The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-05-09

THE N
of sixty accountants was employed for a
period OF 10 months; but the revenue UNI
earthed thereby in sixteen months
amounted to ten times the cost Of the 4
system and its installation.
immediate Dangers.
he dangers arising from the present
accounting system, or more properly al
ssence OF system. are not passed; they
are present and future likewise, as you
can see from the following facts
'First-The amount charged by the
city controller against the permanent i'm
provement revolving fund, which Is now
about to be replenished from the sale Of
$3.50 900 Of new bonds. has at the present
time no direct relation to the amounts
spread by the county auditor upon the
special assessment tax rolls to recoup and
maintain that fund; so that there is no
more possibility Of reliably accounting for
this $350,000. than for the 81. 150. 900 which
preceded it. For example, the amount
charged by the city controller this year
against the permanent improvement re-
volving fund for 1902 sewer. paving, curb
and gutter improvements is $243, 147. SO;
whereas the amount spread upon the tax
rolls by the county auditor for these 1902
sewer. paving, curb and gutter specials
can any balance be maintained to guar
antee the Integrity Of the $3.50, 900 in ques-
ton? gs44.T< "a
"Second-There is no audit or, vertical
tlon OF cost between the city controllers
once and the city engineers office, and
as the amount assessed against abutting
property for improvements seldom covers
To he o{f NJ
Improvement fund suffers. Moreover, that
iund IS protected by no asset and liabil-
lty account; so that there is no guaranty
! that the $150,000 about to be placed in
that fund will be better accounted for than
the several millions that have gone before.
'Ih1rd-Moreover. after the special as
sessment rolls have been adopted and
confirmed by the city council, and after
the two funds above named have been
charged on the city controllers books with
the cost of local improvements on the ba-
Sis of the assessments thus legalized and
! confirmed, changes both legal and other
wise are made In these rolls in the offices
of the engineer and auditor, and as these
! changes, under the present lack of ac-
| counting, are not recorded with the city
controller, the revenues to be paid back
into the proper funds from special assess
ments often, if not customarily, bear no
relation to the charges against these funds
|
| The assessment roll on one improvement
examined shows something like 100 de-
scriptions of property that have been
i raised in assessment not far from $40 per
lot since confirmation by the council; the
clerk making the changes doubtless doing
1t in good faith, on the ground that the
original assessment was lower than actual
cost. AS the controller has no record OF
this alteration, he cannot adjust his ac-
count to it. Moreover, as the court will
doubtless decide that the city must abide
by the original assessment, this assess
ment roll will be the cause of about Zoe
rebate cases., the final outcome of which
will be that the permanent improvement
revolving fund will lose the total amount
of the rebate of about $40 per lot; while
the 100 taxpayers may be n1ulcted IS pei
cent Of that sum for expert aid in secur-
ing the rebates. ,sss5z
Fourth Chapter x, Section Is, of the
city charter provides: The city clerk
shall record all assessment rolls of specia
assessments in books to be by him kept fol
that purpose
Section 1 following provides: And the
assessment roll, and the record thereo,
kept by the city clerk. shall be competent
ment was duly levied and the assessment
roll duly made and adopted
Now it is well known that the city
clerk keeps no such books containing the
assessment record. The rolls and the rec
ord are kept only by the city engineer ant
county auditor. The cost of about 81, 50l
to make a copy of the assessment rolls il
probably the reason for not keeping thu
additional record.
In this connection, permit me to sug
gest, that in Chicago, Detroit and a mum
Der of other cities the assessment rolls ar
now made In duplicate by typewriting ma
| chimes adapted for the purpose, and thes
. | Of IN 10 r.ovp naa
of medium weight paper used in this city
and containing merely the name Of tn
property owner, a description of his prop
erty, and the amount of his assessment
are broad, detachable. loose leaf ledge
sheets, containing all the necessary paral
lei columns for a complete ledger accoun
of and history of the assessment in ques
tion from the time it was authorized b
the city council until the cash collected /
, covered into the city treasury or other
, wise accounted for.
Three Important Purposes.
'.This assessment roll invention accom-
plishes three important purposes:
"F'irst-By the use Of carbon duplicate
=, four copies, If necessary, can be made g
, little more than the cost of one and thre
= or four thousand dollars is saved in cleric;
; exrense.
: ''Second-The city engineer, the count
i auditor, the city clerk and the city con
: troller may each be provided with cop
= Of the assessment roll in the possible form
;, and with exact duplicates which cannc
: be altered without certainty Of detection
: "Third-The city controller, count
. auditor and city engineer have befol
. them the same complete special assess
= nent record as foundation for the
:, bookkeeping. It will not be necessar
: for the city controller to duplicate the d.
: tailed work of the count yauditor in kee1
- ing a. special account of every individu
- assessment; but it is essential that /
have the footings to enable him to kee
"a first, an account for each improveme en-
= If not for each instalment, and secon
- an account for the total amount of IL
= assessment, neither of which is now ker
"As a final reason for opening the a.
counts recommended the city now h.
no system Of accounting with the coun
y by which it knows that the assessment
- even after being levied are collected !
~ the county and otherwise accounted fc
- AS no asset and liability account is Ike
=, either Of the special assessments or
: the permanent improvement revolvil
"a funds the city controller has no means
= knowing, and the city has not known f