The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1881-10-27

abA:ed aud Of delinquent taxes, ~ com.
pIcte III each del,Ar, nIei,t rs can be
made, and more con vciiient for refer
e'ce, much more likely to be correct
ti';'n 1t transferred IL other hooks.
! Oil Tie Closing page Ut the tax list of
each town Is placed, az u permanent
,hAture. ATOM plele exhibit IF all Of these
TRANSACTIONS. o. the left hand page is
shown t''e amount placed for collection
fanu tho exact proportion IF that u
mount Which b-lanKs to each particular
iund tor which taxes are levied.
As al offset l" this statement is
Shown On Lie opposite page = statement
lOi lax collections in detail for each of
the different funds, and the total a.
AiOu.. received at each Of the different
lsettleiueillS. Amounts as shown here 4, Z
ais" entered III The different ledger &C.
IcOun.s, 50 that every dollar can he thus
traced direct from the tax list to them
A. tire tiis1l settltIlIelt, settlements ad-
dsti SHOW tie total COLLECTIONS of the
year. Ti'~l' is brought forward the
taxes alEtt+d or stricken off, also the
luncullecteai taxes. All If these added
II entries have been made correctly
|siWws am equal and exact balance.
with the statement Of t :tal TAGS leu;ed
III detail for the different funds and in
total amount, making = complete col.
lection account of each tax list. includ-
my all amounts for collection (current
and delinquency ~ nicely And correctly
balanced ut tile close If the year as
cash Or commercial accounts.
1t will be readily seen that By this
arrangement every dollar Of tax levied
'"u>t tx eventually accounted for by
actual payment. unless stricken off by
COMPETENT authority.
Ii the auditor. office 4 complete. Ill.
Istract Is kept Ut the entire TAX list. ~.
Il. y entry is made on til. uf taxes Iev.
lcd and Of taxes paid. which, appears u!
tue Ire;ssurer's b,oks. thus giving the
a 'ntit''r i complete supervision IT thu.
Iel.tire business.
Their theory is that the collection &C.
count il the one If most Importance, A.
nearly all Ut the others ensallHte from it {;
that 1t is quite As Important that the
Auditor should keep u duplicate. ot that
and more important in fact than of the
accounts of the different funds.
They have the matter 80 arranged
that amounts u, 9 r..adily traced direct
from tie collect On account 1.-THE tax
list t. eAci, Of tie others elllaliAtinK|
from it. and IN suc!. u way that exanli.
nation and comparison Of the entire
business can Ike made and positive re.
suits attained with comparatively al
small outlay Of time and expense. III.
VEST iKation aud trial balance Of the en-
tire business 1T the year can liz made IL
less time aud with more satisfactory
results than Of single town Ivy meth
'Mis which were in use before they took
charge If thu. huxiness.
In making up the account If y town
by the old m-ti"Id. the entire tax lists
of 1T least six prior years had to be ex.
a'"i''r'i carefully. Payments were be.
ing made which had to he taken intO1
the account at eaclt settlement on all
of tie old lx",ks. Where taxes had
leen marked paid and dated since theI
last settlement, the amount wxsI
brought forward tn the account and ~
check mark Was made in pencil to indi:
cate tl.r fact that it had bs-e,, allowed
i'm the settlement. If by u slip Of the pe,.
th9 date made it APPEAR to have been paid
prior to the last settlement. and the
pencil mark added, It had the appear.
snce Of having b+'en previously tske,,
into the account aud wo:ld be lxSsed
lover. II delinquent taxes which were
paid III 1879. were made to appear tO|
have bor,. paid in 1873 Tor ANY other!
prior yr*r, wl,e,. they really ought to
have l,erm paid), Of courst they would
not be taken into the account Of the
business Vt the year 1879. The change
|of. 4 single figure or word IN marking
the tax paid. would place the matter IN
such pH'siti.n' that thr money received
could ~ down into son,ebodies puck.
|sts, with hardly y possibility of its ever
being dttect4d.. OF course honorable
men would not manage Guinness III that
way. hut there 10 not the slightest r+x.
son why accounts should l,e kept in
such way that it could be done.
-. Az We have said. ut least six books
must ba' exam ined through In making
lup the collection account! at u single