Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1893-02-16
FINANCIALLY.
An Examination of the County's Fund
Made By
a Committee Appointed For the Purpose
By the Commissioners-A An In
teresting Report, Etc

the condition of the county's finances,
extracts from which we gave last week.
| ST. GAINESVILLE, O., Feb. ,, 1898.
To the Honorable Board of County Commissioners
of Belmont County. Ohio:
GENTLEMEN-In pursuance with your
request we herewith submit statement
showing the actual condition of the
County Bridge and Special Building
l(COurt house, funds, at the present date
We have gone over the records in ihe
Auditors office very carefully in the
time allotted to us, and made as thor
ough an examination as our time would
permit, aud we find that the actual in
debtedness of the County fund is $751;
I241.65. Included in this amount is
$4,000 due the Special Building fund
$4,000 borrowed from the Belmont
Savings and Loan Co., of Bellaire, o..
and $4,000 borrowed from the Dollar
Savings Bank, of Bridgeport. With the
exception of two years, from 1884 to the
present time, the Commissioners have
made a levy of l.9 mills on the dollar to
meet the expenditure on account of that
fund, and it has been found to be wholly
insufficient to meet such necessary e1-
penditure.
The indebtedness above referred to
has been accommodating for several years,
and after the re-appraisement of 1890
the tax duplicate was reduced S3,25O.OOO.
The Commissioners have been COM
PEELED to borrow money to meet the re-
quirements of this fund and hence paid
large sum as interest. During the
wear named the Commissioners were
compelled to borrow to meet the def
cheney which has been accruing for
several years, as above stated. 1t has
been the custom for the Treasurer to
pay all orders when issued by the Au-
ditor, and the deficiency in the County
and Bridge funds has heen increasing
to such an extent that the orders were
paid for out of any funds remaining in
the treasury at the time of their issu-
ance.
To meet the expenditure of the June
collection of taxes, 1891, the Commits
sioners borrowed $19,9S5, and from
Sept. l, 1891, to Sept, 1892, they bor-
rowed $74.840. This seems to be a
large sum, yet the Commissioners were
compelled to borrow the sums named to
meet nothing but the actual and ordinary
expenses of the fund, together with the
| Indebtedness. The true condition of the
Bridge fund is $57,77690 in debt. In-
cluded in this amount is $4,000 bor
rowed from the Belmont Savings and
Loan Co., of Bellaire, S42,480 81 due
the Pultney Township Pike fund, and
S15,77201 due the Pipe Creek Pike
fund, both of which last named sums
having been determined by the Engineer
of said pixies, and are yet to be trans
ferred to said funds. There are also
100000 of bridge bonds unpaid, which
are not included in the above debt of
S57,778.9O. The first $4,000 of said
bonds are due in Sep, 1897, and the re-
naming $4,000 becomes due, $4,000
each year, beginning Sept. l, 1903.
You will remember that in July of
1887, and the two succeeding summers,
there were very disastrous floods which
damaged and destroyed some OF the most
important, as well as the largest bridges
in the county. To meet the expendi-
lures, the Commissioners were required
to, and did, on Dec. t, 1888, issue bonds
in the amount of $4,000 under section
1924 of the Revised Statutes of Ohio.
This section provides that when any of
the important bridges of the county
shall become destroyed, and the restora-
tion thereof is deemed necessary for
public accommodation, the Commis-
sioners may levy special tax for that
purpose, not exceeding one mill and five
tenths, the proceeds of which shall be
applied solely to such restoration, and
the Commissioners may anticipate the
collection of such special tax by borrow
ing any sum not exceeding the amount
so levied, at any rate of Interest not ex-
ceeding six per cent. per annum, and
issue notes or bonds therefor payable
upon the collection of such special tax.
The levy of one and five tenths mills on
the dollar, as provided for in this section,
was not made by the Commissioners in
June, 1888, or June, 1889, and hence
the present Board of Commissioners had
to meet this expenditure laregey from
the receipts of borrowed money.
Beginning in 1884 the levy was eight
cents; 1885. four cents; 1886, two cents;
1887, three cents; 1888, four cents; 1889,
five cents, and in each Of the years 1890,
1891, and 1892 eleven cents on 500,
which is the limit to which the Com,
misSioners were allowed to 60 by law.
The $4,000 above referred to were is
sued under a special act of the Legisla-
ture passed May l, 1891, (Vol. 08, page
896, of the Ohio Laws to meet the ex
penditure required in the construction |
of the bridges to be built on the Pultney |
township and Pipe Creek pixies.
Up until December %, 1892, there
were expended for bridges on the
Pultney township pixies 42,482. 8S, and
on the Pipe Creek pike bridges $l5,-
782.01. We are informed by member
Of the Board of Commissioners, who had
charge of the re- building of the bridges
damaged and destroyed by the floods
above referred to, that the actual amount
Of all expenditures occaSiOned by the
hoods would reach 100000, and we be-
lieve this statement to be correct, but
from the limited time we have, we have
not been able to ascertain the same from
the records. as it would necessitate an
examination of every voucher in the
Auditors office for the past five years.
The statement does not include any
Of the duplicate collections ON the dupli-
cate of 1892, for the reason that the
settlements have not been made with
The County Treasurer. s
The actual condition of the Special
fund is balance of S12, ,93806.
Included in this statement is $4,000
iue it from the County fund, and yet to
De transferred. There are outstanding
s150000 of Court-ho and Jail bonds,
he first of which becomes due March l,
1894, and the last Sept. l, 1908. The
evies made for this fund from 1884 are
Is folio VS.: 1884, seven cents; 1885,
ourteen cents; 1886, seven cents; 1887. G