Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1906-10-09

$500 but for the examination and the hon
esty OF the county treasurer, who made
good his clerks defalcation.
Ledgers Only Fit for Junk Pile.
l now advise you that the tax ledgers
in the comptrollers office are absolutely
fit for the junk pile. There is no claim by
The comptroller's office force that they rep
made TO verify the correctness OF the treas
urers balance. 1t may or II may not be
correct II 4 is correct no credit Is due
the comptroller; IL incorrect It cannot be
too soon known, and the cause thereof.
Second-Under the auditing system pre-
viously mentioned duplicate tax lists are
made, one for the treasurer's Office and the
other for the comptroller's office. The
taxes are marked paid by the treasurer
on bis list from the original receipt and
by the comptroller from the duplicate. the
object being as described by the author
Of the system to compare the lists not less
than once In three months to detect fraud
and inaccuracies. l desire to point out
that II is nearly year since any such
comparison was made. There is ample
such lapse OF time and the original in
tention OF frequent comparisons should be
maintained.
Third-The charter provides, section 90;
He (comptroller) shall carefully examine
and check all the reports of the city treas
urer and county treasurer as ex-ofHcio
city treasurer and communicates TO the CITY
council as soon thereafter as practicable
the result Of such examination. Referring
the reports OF the county treasurer as ex.
otficio city treasurer, ! desire 10 call your
attention to the fact that of the thousands
OF dollars collected by the county for the
city through the operations OF the scaven-
ger law no effort has been made by the
comptroller's Office to determine whether
urers clerks are correct In determining the
amounts due the city. The entries are
be almost a miracle If found correct with
out proper audit.
Fees Not Accounted For.
Fourth-secton 1856 of Cobbey's Anno-
tated Statutes OF Nebraska, provides that
the county treasurer shall also pay to
! from the docket fee on each tract OF land
; in such city" No accounting of these fees
has been made by the comptroller's depart
ment since January /, 1906, Notwithstanding
his specific duty to make monthly reports
! to the city council. As the number OF
docket fees paid in has been quite large,
| good many hundred dollars
! tifth-Section 15l OF the new charter pro-
/ specific fund after all obligations created
against and payable out of such fund have
been paid, redeemed or. cancelled shall be
transferred to the sinking fund by the
comptroller without further direction of tht
council" The amount so certified by the
comptroller to the treasurer Is incorrect
being based upon false assumption. The
| amount to he transferred should be tn,
difference between the amount collected and
the total amount OF the obligations created
As a consequence the balances in the vsri
Gus funds as now shown are incorrect
! Sixth-There are numerous cases where
the comptroller has ordered interest oil
| taxes rebated. an assumption OF the power
conferred upon the council. While rea'
sons may be advanced why this was done
I deem II dangerous privilege for any
one official to assume. 1t may result IL
an abuse OF the privilege through favor.
iusn with its resulting strife and con
tention
You will understand. of course, that th'
examination made by me was incomplet,
because of the action taken by the coun
ell; whether any further errors or omis
sions would evolve, am unable to say
Insofar as the police court tangle Is con
cerned. have never been allowed 10 max,
any Investigation and no report has beef
| filed that / could examine since abe mat
ter was first Rgitated over three month
ago. Regarding other departments haV
no knowledge, but II the checking IL on
par with the police court and the treas
urer's once, then the auditing in connec
ton with the city is In a woeful conc
tiOn. The department Ii In need of
| general reorganization, as under the pres
ent conditions II Is deceptive, assuming
| to do something which II does not per
form and is therefore a misplaced expen
diture.
All OF which is respectfully submitted
JOHN NJ. GILCHRIST.
Accountant