Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1913-02-04

31S
THE ALAMO LUMBER COMPANY

TN IL VI
kcr was read to the council by the mayor,
having been submitted by Alderman Cob
cIini. he report was addressed to Alder
men Cobolini, Kirk and Browns:
70 MeSsrS. j. A.. Browne, l.. COb0lini
and III. j. Kirk, Members of City
Council, City of BrownSyille:
AS per your request. we, the under
signed committee, in behalf Of the tax
payers Of the city of Brownsville, have
made a careful examination:
(d) OF the transcript Of the books
Of the city of Brownsville for the year
beginning May 1, l9li, and ending April
20. 1912. prepared by Ncssrs. Menden-
hall and Banker;
% OF The report Of the city treas
urcr Of The city Of Brownsville for the
period beginning May |. 1912, and md
ing December 81, 1912.
(c) OF the report Of the tax collector
Of the city Of Brownsville for the year
beginning January |, 1912. and ending
Zee, 81, 1912;
(d) The proposed ordinance Of the
city Of Brownsville dividing the rcvc-
MUGS Of The city Of Brownsville into
funds and providing for their cXpcndi-
turc fer the period beginning May 1,
1913. and ending April 80, 191l.
In addition. we have examined the last
published report Of the city treasurer,
which il the report Of "A. NlonzO, city
treasurer, Of date July 81. 1911, and row
erirg 2 period from May "a, 1910 to
July 81. 1911.
Az YOU will note from the several
dates covered by these various reports,
there is no correlation between them:
they cover overlapping periods Of time,
lnd it ~ absolutely impossible to asce1'-
tain thcrrIr0m the financial condition Of
he city Of Brownsville ut present, or at
any given period referred TO by any Of
these reports, and it il almost imp0s-
sihlr. from these reports. 10 fix the re-
Sponsibility for the condition into which
he Bookkeeping and financial affairs Of
he city Of Brownsville have been per-
mittcd to fall.
You will note that the city seems
to have two fiscal years. one, which be-
gins May / Of each year and ends on
April 30 CT the ncXt ensuing year, for
The expenditure Of money. and another.
which begins on The LIST day Of January
III each wear and ends on the 3lSt day Of
December Of the same year, for the cot
lection Of revenue. We are not informed
whether any fiscal year is provided bv
ordinance Of the city; and the minutes
of the council not being indcXcd, 1T IN
nearly impossible to ascertain whether
there is anv such cr1inonce. Take, for
example, he rcnort Wy ,ho tax collector
md thc TCr:-t "r th" Ely treasurer for
.Lc pu=t wear REFERRED. Az. The report
of the tax collector covers a period be-
ginning With III" lst Of January, 1912.
and includes the collection Of All rcvc-
nucs for the calendar year of 1912. show
ING 4 total amount Of taxes collected
during that year Of %57,0}3.19. The
Mcndcnha!l and Banker report appar-
icntlv is intended to account for tax col
~lcctiOnS made during the months of Jan
uarv. February. March and April Of
this year, Tut this does not clearly APP
pear. az it il possible that the tax col
lector may have held funds i'm his hands
and paid them over to the city treasurer
1T Il later date. The report Of the city
treasurer covers 4 period frCm May 1,
1912. 10 December 81. 1912. but we can
not say positively from any of these re-
ports, whether the funds collected by
Mr.. Garcia during the mOnhS Of Jan
uarv. February. March and April were
expended during those months, with the
exception Of the balance reported on
hand by the city treasurer on the lSt
day of May, in each Of the several
years, or not.
Then, there are curious discrepancies
between the report of the tax collector
and the report Of the city treasurer; for
instance. the city treasurer reports mar
ket revenues collected from May | to
December 81. 1912. in the sum of 49,,
jS2.03; the total mounts Of market
revenue reported by the tax collector
for the same period is $4,05S.04; i dis
crepancy Of nearly $500.
Again, the M~endcnhall and Banker
report shows the amount of one year in
tcrcSt bearing warrants outstanding on
;Ec 30th day Of April. 1912. in the total
sam Of $5.590.51. The report Of the city
treasurer shows that. on December 81,
1912. eight months later, there was out
standing the sum Of 81 1888 in one
wear interest bearing warrants, and en-
tirciy fails to show to whom, or for what
purpose such warrants were issued.