Evening journal., 1911-09-15
$4,000 THE
CITY DEFICIT
Former Auditor Submits Re-
view Of Finances to City
Council
MAKES SUGGESTIONS
FOR FINANCIAL RETIREMENT

FOR FINANCIAL RETIREMENT
Former City Auditor Charles R.
kenworthy, presented the annual
statement of the City Auditors Office
Al the regular meeting of City Coun-
Gil last night, and inclosed a letter
which set forth matters he considered
worthy of the consideration of the
members of that body
The former auditors statement
1 shows that the last City Councn,
(Democratic), went out of Office with
deficit of S40,343.16, increasing the
deficit left by the previous Council,
(Republican), by $24,113.3S The re-
port further shows that there are out
standing city taxes due the city in
both Northern and Southern districts
amounting to $4,000 and extending
as far back as 1903
Tie total receipts of Mayor and
Council, both current and special,
amounted to S1,O5S,09601, divided as
follows: Mayor and Council, $S02,-
95270; Street and Sewer Department
transfers, S27, 7,910.23,. and Water De-
partment transfers, 1927 .233.0S
The ordinary current disbursements
of the Mayor and Council amounted to
$193,4473S; redemption of bonds,
S1O2,45O, and purchase of play
grounds, S62,955.31, making a grand
total of s93S.s52.69
These disbursements do not include
transfers to various departments.
Mr. Kenworthy's letter follows:
Wilmington, DEL Sept 18th, 1911
ITO the Honorable President and
Members of The Council, Will
mington, Del.
"Gentlemen:-
Il have the honor to submit here
with the annual auditors report Of
the finances of the city of Whining
ton for the fiscal year ending June
Both, 1911. Since no report for the
year ending June Both. 1910, has been
published, beg leave to offer a brief
4 statement outlining the increase in
4 the Indebtedness of the city of Will
mington during the two years just
passed.
AT the close Of the year 1909 the
cash balance to the credit of the
Mayor and Council was S10,279.S3 and
the unpaid liabilities were s26,50961:
leaving a deficit of S16,229.7S. At the
close of the year 1911 the cash bal
ance was $31,1612S and the unpaid
liabilities, including the Union Ma
tional Bank loan, were S71,504.44;
past Council therefor, increased the
deficit by S24.113.2s
Much of this increase, however,
was due to the payment of money
overdue the Government for harbor
improvement, the contest cases in the
81 Council, and the cost of annotating
and codifying the charter. laws and
ordinances of the city Of Wilmington; I;
all of which expenditures were un-
usual, though necessary. Neverthe-
less. I feel that Wilmington can and
should be managed within its income,
. vnoHgh neither of the dominant po-
81 l&ical parties have very seriously at
tempted 10 do so; and that many of
the unwise and wasteful expenditures
of city funds Will ultimately be kept
81 within reasonable bounds. Not that
there seems to be an absolute dis
81 honesty among the municipal en-
ployes; it is rather a case of gross
carelessness and a feeling of, "Oh,
well, the city pays for that"
During my brief, but interesting,
term of office, / learned that efforts
had been made to increase the an
nual salary Of the auditor to S2500.
This seems unwarranted in view of
the fact that the auditor has very little
legal power or responsibility and is,
after all, very little more than a head
bookkeeper. Both my predecessor
# and myself were forced to strain our
legal power to the utmost in an ef-
fort to conserve the interests of the
citizens, and then We were not always
successful In fact, with the short
hours and comparative freedom from
restraint, I feel that under existing
conditions many thoroughly compe-
tent men would be willing TO become
City Auditor at a salary of $1,000.
"In my opinion. however, the Office
of City Auditor should be abolished
and one Of City Controller created; ;
and the Controller should be given
the power to veto for overcharge or
iniudiciOus expenditure of public
funds This plan has worked wonders
H. the Levy Court Of the county ana
] feel that its application 70 munich
pal affairs would be highly beneficial
10 the tax payers. In addition,
would suggest that a citizens COM
mittee be authorized to carefully ex-
anime the Auditors or Controllers
books and vouchers at least once each
year Such committee could be made
up of members of the Civic Associa-
ton, the Board of Trade, and other
citizens organizations; and should be
elected by the members of such or
feel that the old story of 'Burying
It in the Auditors Office might be
changed somewhat; since the mem
|s bers of the committee would be
rs chosen by the people themselves, and
not appointed by one who might be
Interested in keeping things quiet.
Incidentally, a few citizens would
learn something about municipal
financing.
"It seems singularly unfortunate
that the Auditors term should expire
on August 1st, since it is absolutely
impossible to prepare the annual
financial statement by that time. Many
matters require attention at the close
of term of public Office and in many
cases the data necessary for the state
ment is not on file in the Auditors
& ONCE until July 25th I would there
for suggest that the terms Of the pres
ent Auditor and Auditors Clerk be
etxended to September 1st, 1913.
I'm closing, ] wish to extend my
hearty thanks to the former Auditors
Clerk, Mr. William ]. Hanley. II is
IS principally due to his untiring efforts
& that this report is submitted earlier
E# tban hac ever hofora haep the ooca.