Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1912-11-21
mCARE[ESSNESS
NWORKS BOARD"
Audit Experts Condemn Meth.
DDS as obsolete-New Sys- .
tenn After Jan. I, 1918.

#Ha NOVAHAmA8Gr NE0m EhEUG EERDsJ
methods in the water department
pointed out by the experts were:
The practise of spreading importan
entries on the books without ade
quate explanation. The resultin;
confusion, the report says, was mad
worse by a recent change of book
keepers.
The practise of placing explana,
lions Of entries on loose sheets o
paper. many Of which have become
lost.
Frequent changing of accounts; thu
opening of new accounts and ths
subsequent merging of them with
others.
The placing OF items in accounts
with which they have no connection
As ar instance OF this the prober:
tell Of the entry OF a retaliation OF
the new water supply property with
the balances. from operations,
thereby increasing the surplus ac-
count in the sum of So. 8 0.4s1.Ss.
No Means Of Gsusing Depreciation.
The absence of a comprehensiv,
method to determine the deprecia-
ton accruing. on various units OF
property.
The separation of several funds
| from the funds and records of the
department, although all have to dc
with the business of the department
Among these the probers mention tho
duplicate fund for the refund of bills
collected more than once, the con-
struction fund, the high pressure
fund made up of the deposits of con
sumers to pay for the installation OF
high pressure service, reducer valve
fund made up of deposits to insure
bills and the return of equipment
and the fund containing the money
collected for thawing pipes.
Instead of the temporary 8 OF
these funds for the administrative
work. of the. department the investi-
gators suggest the substitution of a
definite working fund to which ad-
vances or bills could be charged
when money is required urgently.
The absence of an adequate ac-
counting control In the water de-
partment. The cashier is nominally
in charge of this division of the de-
partment, the report states, but he
has confined himself almost entirely
to- the collection of cash, taking little
part in the inspection work Of the
office.
The auditors recommend that in
future the operating accounts of the
Il an foaAA o. -. r ~ n-x,o - AAI a.
cording to a classification now being
formulated by the State Board of
Public Utility Commissioners.
Some Of the Recommendations.
Some of the recommendations of
the investigators are:
To centralize the responsibility for
the administration of the depart
ment; to install q comprehensive set
of cost accounts. embracing a system
of time and material reports and
records, so arranged as to connect
properly with the general blocks "a
detailed outline of such a system is
given by the auditors); to refrom the
present method of inspecting meters.
The experts recommend changing the
IO1tl IL .CdIu, u diiolCA Ing iAiFlEN vi .
to different districts frequently and
checking up of the reports of in
spectors on daily summary sheets by
a supervising Inspector.
The fixing of responsibility, for
building purposes" INSPECTION; the
simpli6cation Of the procedure in con-
nection with the purchase and sale
of meters. At present meters are sod
by the assessors department. deliv-
cred to the purchaser from a stHc'I
room in the City Hall annfp. AMI a
monthly report of meters sold and on
hand is prepared by the inspection
department. The experts suggest
that the inspection department be re-
lieved from the work of looking mfr
the stock of meters and preparing the
monthly report.
Regarding Records of Automobiles.
A change in the methods of Keeping
the records of automobiles used by
the department. The present system,
the report says, docs not show what
the cost of maintaining each car Is,
nor which type of a is most aerv-
iceable. The probers recommend tie
use of daily time cards. snow'ng the
time the cars are run, the amount of
gasoline and oil consumed, the num-
Der of tire changes and similar inf r
nation. One Of the recommends tions
is TO move the assistant cashiers
desk in the water department office TO
the front of the room. where he and
his assistants may deal directly with
the public in receiving cash over the
counter. At present money and bills
r carried from the window to the
assistant cashier in a cage.
The experts also submitted a gen.
eral audit Of the .city's accounts.
which they said they found in good
condition.
Among the recommendation made
in his report was hat a competent
local real estate dealer be employed
to examine city property and hxe its
valuation. This is because. the as
SCISSORS office because these buildings
are exempt from taxation) place only
a nominal valuation on them.
Surplus of saO.OO4 Is Held.
In this report there Is also a section
relating to the sum of 100000, held as
9 surplus under the Martin act, which
should be represented by cash in
bank. The detailed records in the
~treasurer's office do not agree with
this total, the report says, and, on
account of apparently incorrect adj
justments made some years ago, fur