The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1916-02-01
BY L. s. BOWMAN.

BY L. S. BOWMAN.
Briefly stated the term budget is
used to mean a plan for financing the
county government for a period of one
year. To the majority Of men the term
budget does not convey very definite
meaning. Many have hazy concept
OF a lot of bills to be paid. numerous
items that will call for the expenditure
of public money. or a list of things
needed for next year. 1t includes not
only these. but is meant to include the
entire financial plan mapped out by
The county government for the work
OF It's fiscal year. II should include
the needs Of each department in rea.
sonable detail with provisions to raise
sufficient funds for same.
Law Provides Form.
Budget accounting is a source Of IN
formation by means Of which the citi-
zen can fairly Judge the results Sc
cured by officials and their programs
for future accomplishments. 1t also
serves as defense for the honest OIL
cial. With 1t he can defend his past
performances and explain the various
increases asked for.
Indiana has an accounting law which
prescribes budget estimates by each
department head, to be presented on
forms furnished by the County Audi
tor. These forms are sufficiently de-
tailed to provide for fairly complete
list of appropriations for the various
county departments. These estimates
are advertised in August Of each year
and are presented to the County Coun-
oil a. he no q q ho 01S
for making appropriations for the fol-
lowing year.
The law implies that all these var
ious estimates for expenditures OF the
revenues Of the county, and Its imam
cial condition must be brought to a
definite conclusion by the County
Council before a dollar can be raised
or dollar spent. 1t Is necessary for
the Council and the Board OF County
Commissioners to ascertain what each
department OF county government is
doing and how 1t is doing it; what
kind OF results are being obtained and
the cost of same; whether the results
are good or bad, and IL bad to discover
the cause and apply remedy.
In order that the budget may be kept
within proper limits the proposed ap-
preparations should be carefully gone
over item by item. The estimates
should be examined with care and de-
liberation. They should be compared
with those of former years, as the
most dependable indicator Is past ex-
perience. Lump sum appropriations
should be avoided as far as possible,
and facts substituted in place OF
guesses as basis for fixing the var
ious amounts.
System Gives Publicity.
The system Of budgetry gives pub
licity to public business. AS sovereign
ty rests in the people and the govern
ment must be for the people and also
that government must be efficient, and
responsible to the people complete pu.
blicity should be given Of the plain
facts in connection with the admins
tration of county affairs, the one ex-
ception being only in those cases
where premature publicity would tend
to defeat some desired result to be OBJ
tanned
Nothing is absolutely fool proof. A
budget, however scientific and COM
plete is not an absolute guarantee Of
good government. But 1t is certainly
one OF the strong safeguards of good
government and adds to the efficiency
of an administration. A government
without a financial plan is as badly off
as an army without munitions.
The County Council is composed OF
seven members elected for a term of
four years, and they receive the mag
nificient sum of $500 per year for
their services. They are In session
only a few times each year and are
not in close contact with the workings
of the county business, and therefore
they can have but little first hand in
formation on the needs of the county
and are therefore compelled to act on
information presented to them while
in session.
Court Matters Arise.
The Board Of County Commissioners
find most Of their time taken by court
matters. Owing to the large number
Of funds from which expenditures are
made. the amount spent in each, and
the balances on hand in each fund,
and also how these amounts compare
with former years etc, makes it a
difficult matter to keep these details
all In mind. These matters are usual
~ left to the County Auditor who is
secretary to the Board of County Com
the Council Council. the
Board OF Review, and the County
Board Of Finance, who keeps a set Of
records for each board and who Is re-