The age-herald., 1898-08-05
COOSA COUNTY'S
 EX-TAX COLLECTOR Is Reported Short in His Ac-
 counts $1,l32.50. BOOKS WERE MUTILATtD
And Examiner Cowan Says They Were Managed in Grossly Careless and Very Reckless
 Manner.
Special Dispatch to The Age-Herald.

Special Dispatch to The Age-Herald.
 Montgomery, Aug. 4-Assistant Exam iner of Public Accounts James G. Cowan has filed with the governor the following report on the books of ex-Tax Collector F. H. Ellis, of Coosa county, covering the years of 1892, 1885, 1894 and 1885:
 "I find that the taxes of this county have been managed in a grossly careless and very reckless manner. In some instances I find the plainest mandates of the law have been disregarded and measures adopt ed which have caused much confusion and many irregularities The statute plainly declares, that whenever the collector sesses and collects escape taxes, he shall report the same to the probate judge, who shall enter them upon the assessment book and send an abstract of same to the audi tor. Up to my examination-of the affairs of this county in the month of June of last year. this statute has been entirely ignored
 An arrangement existed between the sessors and collectors by which the escapes should be reported to the former, and by them entered upon the assessment book. This examination develops the fact that many escapes are not reported, or If re- ported, the assessor has failed to enter them upon the book. From this examina- tion I have also learned that the assessor leaves a large percentage of the assess ments to be made by the collector. For the year 1894 nc vt;e that the assessor only assessed $1 ,143 poll tax, while the collector is credited with assessing $1,270. When it is known that the collector gets per cent commission for escapes, it may in some measure account for this remarkable pro- eedure.
 Observing from the transcripts furnished me by the auditor for each of the years, that a number of supplemental assess ments, some by the assessor and others by the collector, have been made, exam ined Judge Bentley as to the manner of making these abstracts to the auditor He states that it was the custom for the col lector to make his reports of assessments to the assessor, and the latter would pre- sent to him a transcript of same, stating that they had been entered upon the book, and from his statement and representation he forwarded the abstracts to the auditor. If this custom was allowed to prevail, one can readily see how a collision could eX- ist between assessors and collectors, were they so disposed, not to report all escapes, and the state be thereby deprived of much of it's revenue The statute requires the probate judge to make and prepare an ab- stract book for the collector and deliver the same by the 1st of October. find that this has been done; but scarcely any of these books contain all of the taxes upon them, for the reason that very many of the assessments are not entered upon the assessment book until long after the ab- stract book has been delivered to the col lector and he is engaged in his collections. Upon the faithful discharge of duty by the assessor depends the efficiency of the collector, and many shortcomings of the collector in this report can be traced to the neglect and carelessness manifested in the preparation of the assessment books for 1893, 1894 and 1895.
 Badly Mutilated
 There are seventeen precincts in the county and one stub-book for each pre- cinct. With perhaps only one exception, these stub-books are the worst mutilated I ever saw. This mutilation seems to have begun in 1893 and continued through the succeeding years. The taxes on these stubs are an exact copy of those on the assess ment book as far as it goes. At the close begin the assessments made by the col lector. some of which I find have been en- tered upon the assessment book and some have not. Whether they were all report ed to the assessor and he failed to enter them, or whether the collector failed to report them, I have no means of ascer- taining. It is just where the escapes are entered on these stub-books where the mu- tilation occurs. I find for the year 1893 IA stubs have been destroyed; for the year 1894, 1S6, and for the year 1895, 196.
 I succeeded in obtaining the receipts of several nonresident taxpayers for the year 1885, These receipts were numbered, and, upon seeking to find stubs in the books with corresponding numbers, l ascertained they had been torn out and destroyed. As to why this was done is matter for con- lecture.
 Contained Escape Taxes
 From a thorough and complete examina- tion of these books, I am forced to the conclusion that all, or nearly all, of the 496 missing stubs must have contained escape taxes. This being the condition of the hooks. it is almost an impossibiity ever to arrive at a correct conclusion of the ex- act amount withheld from the state. The escapes ascertained by this examination and fully set forth in the exhibits attached to this report, escaped mutilation ana can he found upon the stubs I found errors in the assessment books for 1S93-1S94 and 1895. These errors are against the collector. For the year 1893 he was overcharged with state tax, $3O.4S; special tax, $3.72, and he was undercharged on polls $l2. For the year 1894 he was overcharged $l4@ state tax, S118 special state, and undercharged on polls $1350. I have restated his account for these years, which can be found in the exhibits. For the year 1895, he was charged twice with the taxes of the Ala bama Mineral Land company, their valua- tion of their property peing siaeoS' the taxes upon same being, state. s6357, and special state $5.7S. This error was caused bv the assessor entering the assessment on both the original and supplement. The collector is certainly entitled to credit for this amount. The taxes or one Mrs. E. T. Rich were entered upon the books, but Afterwards erased; but the valuation of her property was allowed to remain on the books and, in the aggregate, the col iector was Charged with the same have