Evening journal., 1899-07-20

On January /, 1895, while the bal
ance OF cash in the treasury appeared
to be $17,S2ZS7. the county owed tenn
porary loans to the amount of $50. 1000.
so that in fact deficit OF $12.172.13 ex-
listed at that time
The condition OF the accounts OF the
collectors for 1895. 1896, 1897 and 1898
as appears by the comptroller's books.
is shown in a separate statement The
taxes OF all kinds on January 8. 1899.
unaccounted for by the collectors
amounted to $3.50. .632.OS. II will be OBJ
served that a part Of this large sum is
due from the collectors of delinquent
taxes for 1895 and 1896, whose direct
accountability to the county for the
amounts placed in their hands for col
lection has been and. we understand
is still an open question. We directed
attention to this question in our re-
port of last year.
We give, from the best information
obtainable. a statement of the re-
sources and liabilities of the county on
account of general funds, January 3,
1899.
The resources comprehend only the
items applicable to the general ex-
penses of the county and do not in
clude the portion of investment tax
payable to the State OF Delaware and
the city of Wilmington. nor road and
negro school taxes, all of which con-
stitute special funds. Balances due
from collectors for the years 1876, 1888
and 1890, amounting to S2,922.16. un-
collected taxes for 1895, 1896, 1897 and
1928, aggregating S162047.SO, the
countys share OF investment tax in the
hands of the treasurer for distribu-
tion. S397.91. Judgments against de-
linQuent taxpayers of 1895 and 1896,
S1,253.5S subscriptions toward build
ing Washington street bridge, $2,575;
certificate of Indebtedness of the Me-
chanic's Loan Association for $1,000,
and the cash balance of general funds,
January 3, 1899, amounting to S67 1911
%, make up the resources. and form a
grand total Of S237, ,473.67 What
amount will be realized from the large
sums appearing to be due the county
cannot be safely estimated, but it is
reasonable to say, in view of the
shrinking of the county's accounts. re-
ceivable in the past, that the losses
will be very great
We would state, in regard to the GER
tiicate Of indebtedness of the Me-
chanics' Loan Association, that we
found no record of il on the books, but
learned from the county treasurer's re-
ceipt to the trustees for the sale of the
almshouse property that it was duly
transferred by them to the county, on
May rs, 1895. Neither the comptrol-
Ter nor treasurer could give us any
further information concerning the
matter.
The liabilities are stated at $780,
3S3.0l, that being the amount of unex-
pended appropriations on January 3,
1899, and outstanding warrants on that
date. On the basis of expenditures in
recent years the liabilities for the per-
iod the resources are expected to
cover will be considerably augmented.
We submit with the statement of re-
sources and liabilities statements
showing the uncollected investment,
road and negro school taxes as fol-
lows: Investment, s2S,S25.95; road,
S35,O26.69; negro school, S4,731.64.
We regret TO be compelled to report,
after a thorough study of the system
of county accounts. that 1t is imperfect
and misleading. It was only after great
labor that we were able to make an
analysis and classification Of the ac-
counts that will with some degree of
accuracy show the application of the
county funds. We believe it to be of
the highest Importance that more i'm
proved methods of accounting be in
troduced in the county offices.
We beg to renew the recommends
tion in our report Of last year that the
period of the annual audit be changed
from January to July. The county q
fiscal year, strictly speaking, closes on
June 30, and an audit to that date
would show with greater certainty the
state Of the county's finances.
We desire also to acknowledge our
Indebtedness to the comptroller and
treasurer and their clerks for many
courtesies shown and valuable assist
ance rendered during thee curse Of our
| investigation.
Respectfully submitted,
JOHN S. ROSSELL,
JOHN II. DANDY,
Committee.