The Adair County news., 1918-04-24


right to make certain appropriations
as provided by law, and each appro-
priation shall be paid out of some
specific fund provided Tor in the order
making the levy. TheI Adair Fiscal
Court, at its April term, 1917, .":made
levy for the year 1917, for the pur-
pose of paying claims outstanding and
to pay the current expenses for said
year. Yet at the October term of
said Court it allows claims for current
expenses for the year 1917, and makes
the warrants for same payable out of
1918 General Fund. We' use this year
for an illustration only as it was the
last year. We are unable to under
stand why the current expenses for
the year in which the levy was5.made
to pay same, should not be made pay
able out of that year. We believe that
under the law the county should keep
its revenues and expenses for each
year separate from the revenues and
expenses OF every other year. We
recommend that this be done as we do
not believe this Court has a legal
right to allow claims for the expenses
of one year and make same payable
out of the revenue Of the next year.
If it could do this, it could just as
well, in our opinion, allow claims and
10 no Iolo oY1f of tho lour for
the year ten years from this. The
claims allowed at the last October
term of this court and payable out of
the 1918 levy are as much an indebt-
edneSs against the county as the
claims allowed and made payable out
of the 1916 levy or the 1917 levy, for
the reason that the claims allowed
last October we're for current eXpen-
ses and road expenses then due and
should have been made payable out of
the 1917 levy.
We will further say in regard to the
Indebtedness of the county, that the
figures upon which this report was
based we made near the first of March
and that the claims outstanding and
the money in the hands of the said
County Treasurer were as herein
stated at that time. but since then
the said Treasurer may have paid ad-
ditional claims out of the money in
his hands, but that same would not
change the financial condition of the
county for the reason that both claims
and money were taken into conSidera-
ton in arriving at this report. That
the Treasurer now has more than
enough money in his hands to pay all
road claims payable out of the levies
for 1916 and 1917, and that same
should be paid at once if not now
paid.
We further report that in checking
up the said warrants issued, we found
several mistakes in same, and where
sufficient sums were involved in said
errors to justify it, we had same cor
rected, and in this way collected the
sum of $40 90 due the county by
reason of said errors, which sum has
been turned over to the Treasurer OF
the County to the credit of the Gen,
eral Fund.
We would further report that as
directed by this Court we made a set
Element with G. T. Hereford, late
Judge of Adair County, as to the
funds in his hands arriving from the
collection of toll on the Columbia and
Campbellsville turn pike He had nc
papers by which he could show US the
amount that he had taken in, or paid
out, other than his bank accounts and
we made said settlement with him by
accepting his said bank accounts as
correct, which showed $917 to his
credit in the Bank of Columbia, and
Sl,100.02 to his credit in the First
National Bank, making the sum OF
81, 100 10 in his hands belonging to
said pike fund, which amount he then
turned over to Judge W. S. Sinclair,
to whom it was directed by you to be
paid.
AS to the system to be used in keep
ing the pike fund and keeping track
of the the collections of tolls, and as
to the system to be used in keeping
the accounts of the County so that
the financial condition of the county
can be ascertained at any time with.
out any trouble, we will further re-
port on these matters in a separate
report, part of which will be written
and part of which we will explain
orally to the Court.
All of which is respectfully sub.
mitted.
J. n. Coffey
J. r. Garnett
w. A. Coffey
Commissioners.