Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1910-09-01
CITY ACCOUNTING
SYSTEM OBSOLETE,
EXPERTS REPORT
Inadequate to Meet Present Re-
q~uirements, Although Comply
ing with City Charter.

City Auditor George Forman, Price,
Waterhouse & Co., the experts engaged
by the city to make the investigation,
submitted a report to the finance COM
mittee of the Common Council last
night which may serve to change the
system now being followed il this inn
p~ortant department of the city govern
ment.
The auditor, and not the comp
%troller, is in reality the chief fiscal
officer of the city, and all other
fiancial departments should be subordi-
nate to the auditors department In
the judgment of the experts.
Had this system prevailed instead Of
the one in vogue it would not be pos
sible for the co~mptroller's office to
carry ~accounts which are not checked
in the auditors office and which have
not been balanced in years. The re-
port indicates, as forecasted in the
STAR several weeks ago, that the in
quiry to be thorough will have to
cover all city departments.
The experts expect to conclude the
examination of the auditors accounts
within a month. Their examination
there shows no internal check by the
auditors Office of the money collected
and reported for delinquent taxes.
That such a check should be had they
assert is necessary to show the value
of arrearages as an asset as well as
to v error and detect possible
embezzlement.
Mr.. Allen, one of the experts engaged
in the work, struck the keynote to the
situation when he said:
so far as the charter is concerned
the present system in the auditors
office fits 1T exactly, but 1t hardly
measures up to the present demands
of the city. For one thing, the system
could be greatly simplified, but that
would necessitate new charter laws. 1T
should be remembered that the audi
tors office is in reality the clearing
house of all city accounts, and the
system adopted should make ample
allowance for handling the great mass
of detail that this condition naturally
involves"
1t is not unlikely that as a result of
the experts findings an entirely new
system of bookkeeping will be installed
in the auditors office. and that the
methods employed will be altered to
correspond more closely to the growth
and demands of the city.
Comptroller Bachelor suggested that
all arrears considered uncollectable be
made a separate ledger account to be
conducted by the acting auditor, City
Counsel Nugent n the experts. Act
ing Auditor Brady recommended that a
clerk, designated as a bookkeeper, be
appointed to check back the accounts
of all the city departments with a view
to keeping them uniform.
Adopt New Plans.
This plan the committee decided to
adopt and the bookkeeper in question
will be selected after a civil service
examination.
The selection will, of course, be sub
ject to the approval of the finance COM
mittee. The report of the experts,
which showed again the carelessness
and apparent Indifference of the former
auditor, was in part as follows:
THE writing UP of the general led
ger to December 81, 1909. has been COM
pleted in accordance with the methods
used in the past, but, as noted in our
last report, any statement prepared
therefrom would not accurately n in
diligently represent the city's financial
condition at that date. =
80 far 9s we have gone it appears
that the liabilities Of the city as re-
corded on the auditors books are cor
rectly stated, but there can be no
doubt that this statement is not true
of the assets. The value Of the city's
investments in zeal estate and build
irgs is not ST own on the auditors re-
cords. There is an account called
City Debt which apparently repre-
rents the Investments, but only to the
, - 49, x~o.1a 800, - At,fL
standing bonds. When the bonds are
redeemed the book value of this asset
Is reduced co-respondingly.
"A list of all the city property with
the value as at december 81, 1909, is be-
ing prepared which when completed
will be entered on the auditors led
ger and the present accounts adjusted
to agree Herewith.
with regard to the assessments
levied and unctllected the arrears of
street Improvement and real estate as
sessments prior 10 1903 were represent
ed by accounts In The auditors ledger
named Assessment Leases and
Leases for Taxes, the outstanding
balances being supported by detailed
abstract books OF rolls in the audi
tors n comptroller,s offices.
1.-THE amounts originally charged in
each of these detailed records were, We
understand. in agreement. but are no
longer in accord.
Records Never balanced.
1.-THE comptroller has noted cancella-
tons on his detail records, but for a
number of years has not notified the
auditor of this procedure, with the re-
suit that the outstanding assessments,
- -txox. ~ 4lo ora
considerably overstated. to what ex-
tent we are unable to determine, as the
comptroller has d.ver balanced his abb
stract records. and cannot state the
correct total amount outstanding with
out the expenditure of considerable
&,