The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1899-10-19

! collector, and that the following be in
! creased: George Eustis. tax collector and
| treasurer; A \. Gambill license, street
| and poll tax collector.
Mise Tianeous
on January IS. 1897. resolution was
! passed giving the finance committee poWec
to act in the matter of sending commit
tee to Montgomery In the interest of the
ciy's legislation, and | found tae following
+ vouchers:
/ joan McCartin... '.'S % Vo
i. Y. 1:vans... -. -. 80. -. =. =. los %
Rooert j. Lowe, sundry drafts........ 301 y
eee, ~
None of these expense accounts were
! ite mized ard I Aaye no means o. aseer-
ts.nirg their correctness.
= On Janrcl-v q. 1889. the mayor. city at
torney. and Aldermen Kerr and Altman
! were appointed committee to VISIT Mont
! gomery in tne interest of the citys .eSis-
lation and | found tae following vouchers:
Robert J. Lowe, sundry crafts. 1929 80
J. j. Altman. =. =. 81 10
II. II. Kerr. -. -. =. 81 ~
! Total..... -. -. -. ....-,$ilV 81
| r. j. loves expense account was not
! itemized, while Aldermen Kerr and Ait
! mans accounts were itemized and sworn
! to. | could not find any voucher fcr the
mayors expenses, so presume that If The
! went he paid his own expenses.
! | submit herewith exhibit Y, showing all
! amounts paid for expenses of officers and
| committees to various places, for which no
| itemized accounts were rendered. This does
not include arips where specific amounts
were appropriated
Your treasurer erred in paying the eX-
, pense accounts which were not itenized
especially those of tie city attorney. VINO
! is required by the code to itemize his ac-
counts In articles, section 81, paragraph
ur,i he is pq1ip1 hpVop1 the
limits of TIE city of Birmlns ham to attend
to any business of the city, his travelling
and o.iler incidental expenses arising legit-
mately from such corporation business shall
be paid by the board on presentation of an
iteniized bill thereof, certified by him to be
correct
Some time ago $42O was appropriated to
build dwelling for a keeper of Red Noun
tain cemetery, of which .Jle county was to
pay $500. but | find no record of its having
been collected
In March. 1897, he chairman of the finance
committee was authorized to make a con-
tract VITA \. j. Camp for a tax book, but
no amount was stated nor was any report
raade, and | found that $500 was paid him
fer the week, whereas $500 was paid him
each year before and since
On July I, 1898, $1C5,6G was paid A. j. Camp
FOR eie1icaI Llep rendered b. T. S. Tate,
account inferior court dleck,' and the
vouchlr reads, Allowed by the board"
In May, 1898, II, D. Wood was employed for
that purpose AID paid SIS per week through
the Budget, and apparently performed the
work. I could no evidence of Tate's
work in the papers and books bearing on
the case, nor could find any authority on
the minutes for the employment of either
one.
On August I, 1885, milk inspector was
appointed, but there is no record of any,
thing ever having been done by him. The
matter of pure milk is important one to
the community, and 1t would be we'll to re-
new the appointment and nave it kept up.
On, February Is, 1898, a resolution was Of
fered to see about getting interest on the
city's deposits, which referred to the
finance committee, but found no record of
a report from them
l respectfully urge the Importance of nav
ing a fire-proof vault in which to place the
records of the city and city engineer, as
t.leir loss would be serious one, for they
could not be replaced.
1le following is a summary of the
amounts due by une officers to tine city and
amounts due by the city to the officers:
Due city:
j. L. Ellis. 201 %
A. J. Camp, licenses -. -. -. IS
license transfers...$ GO 80
Poll tax........ 30 90
Paid for t. s. Tate. LOG 66-$ 205 Il
A. A. Gamb.ll...... -. =. rs 90
George Eus,is, poll tax.....$ 10 90
George Eustls, real and
personal tax. ...... 80. 10 3G-$ 20 &c.
]. p. Carpenter clerk inferior Grim
mai couft.... rs 12S so
$, NJ. Mingea, clerk inferior crimi-
nal COURT. -. -. -. -. 2,376 46
Due officers:
George d. Whatley, clerk inferior
criminal COURT. -. -. -. -. .$ 325
A. A Gambill, street taxes. -. ... "a 90
{. r. Douthit, pubic Improvement
taxes. -. e.. go 1e An
Total. -. =. :. .S103 65
The various exhibits presented show not
only the amount collected by The different
officers and paid in by them, but the date
OF their collection and payment to the
treasurer.
l experienced great difficulty in finding
the stub books of the various collectors as
they We're scattered all through the draw
ers and cupboards of the record room,
Your former auditor, Mr.. Camp had them
properly filed away and indexed, but this
system has not been kept up.
For a detailed statement of the missing
stubs refer you to the various exhibits
desire to call your attention especially
to the efficiency of your tax collector, Mr..
George Eustis, as evidenced by the small
number of unpaid taxes shown on his
books. ! doubt if this can be equalled by
any city in this country.
L regard your Whole system as an admir-
able one, and would suggest that 1t be con-
tinued with the changes as noted under the
various departments.
/ wish to state that 1 have been afforded
every courtesy and facility for my exam
ination by the different officials, and 1t has
been made without prejudice or suggestion
from any one, and therefore this report is
based entirely upon the facts shown by
the records. Respectfully submitted,
H. tta GEORGE T. ROSSON,
iair Examiner.