The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1918-01-17

county = SHpFNABe the CSbu hCCOuub
of the treasurer amounted to s5.f4s.
An audit made by the state accountant
in the city of Winchester exposed an
embezzlement of license taxes by the
commit ssioner of the revenue of ST.
TIC; In the city of Buena Vista a de-
fciency in the cash. OF the treasuer's
office was found amounting to s2.o6s;
while the treasurer accounts of Farm
VILE for the year 1915 were found to
be short $1,765.
/ THE seriousness Of a condition of
this sort, which possibly is due chiefly
to inefficient administration and lack
OF auditing inspection and control
rather than moral turpitude Of indi-
vlduals. cannot be overestimated. and.
In the opinion of the commission on
economy and efficiency Il is situa-
ton that should be corrected promptly
by the general assembly.
state Accountants onics.
For these reasons the commission
recommends that the state accountants
office be provided with sufficient funds
and force to cooperate with the COVER
nor In supervising the financial sys-
TEN OF the state and local governments.
and more efficiently to do the work
which has been assigned to II, The
general laxness with which the states
funds are handled and accounted for
under present conditions should be
Abolish Separate Auditing.
Separate audit of expenditures OF
the public funds by the spending au-
4 thorities themselves is reprehensiole'
, 10 say the least. The audit of their
own expense accounts by the state
board of education, the department OF
agriculture and immigration. the state
corporation commission and the de-
partment of prohibition. for example,
should be discontinued. Audit and
approval of subvouchers OF all de-
partments institutions and agencies OF
the state should be placed with the au-
ditor of public accounts.
Expenditures by Appropriations.
This commission recommends in
this connection. that hereafter all
funds-no matter how derived-re"
ceived by any department, Institution
or other agency of the state should be
strictly accounted for and covered into
the state treasury. and that no money
should be spent by any department ex-
cept out Of appropriations provided by
the general assembly. A number OF
4 our Virginia state agencies have de-
veloped a financial independence
and freedom from executive control
and supervision that Is exertinz \ very
detrimental influence on the service as
a whole This is a needed reform that
, should be dealt with swiftly ana nrmiS
by the general assembly
Standardization of Expense Accounts
/ Another condition which the COM
/ m,sston wishes particularly to call att
tention to- is the lack of any Uniform
regulations governing the character OF
items that can be charged against the
state by its officials and employees IN
their expense accounts. A few de-
uartnents have adopted regulations of
/ one Kind or another, while the majority
NJ the agencies have no regulations of
any kind.
! Per Diem Allowance.
! The commission suggests that this
harhazard method Of doing business
, be corrected by an act OF the general
ASST mbly providing per diem al
lowance in lieu OF subsistence Tor
state officials and employees, when
travelling on official business away
! from their home station, not to ex-
coed SIS. II is suggested that authori-
tv be lodged with the governor to
regulate the amount OF the per diem
! which should be allowed different
grades of employees.
( NO further itemization, nor sup
| porting subvouchers should be requir-
ed to suhstantiate claim for sub
! sistence when a per diem allowance IN
made. For an absence of less than
4 six hours. however. no per diem
should be allowed. For six hours or
over a full per diem should be allow
ed for each day of twenty-four hours
or fraction thereof; the day being
considered as commencing at mid
night. When travel Ia on a steamer.
where the fare includes stateroom and
meals, no per diem should be allowed.
| Claims for per diem allowance and
reimbursement OF travelling expenses
should be required on standardized
forms under oath. A reason or tie
authority for every expenditure should
be required. with full information in
regard to the expenditure itself. A
subvoucher should he required to sup
port every unclassified item OF ex-
penditure for which reimbursement
is claimed.
classification of items which could
be included In travelling expenses. and
for which regulations should be pre-
iscribed, include railway fares, sleep
ing or chair car accommodations,
street car fares. cab fares. livery. bag
gage. gratuities, kilograms, telephones
and stenographic or other service.
Uniform Fiscal Year.
The commission also wishes to
call the attention OF the general as
sembly to the fact that the best re-
suits cannot he had under any finan-
ciai system until provision IL made
for a uniform and coterminous APP
preparation and fiscal year. At pres
| ent the appropriation year Ia March
to February IS. while the fiscal year
used by the auditor OF public accounts
ends as OF September so. There are
other financial periods observed by
some of the state Agencies It wou'f,
therefore. be most desirable. in the
opinion OF tn commission, to 80
amend the constitution that uniform
appropriation and fiscal year. ending
June 80, could be established.
This change would remove the
present accounting confusion, and
greatly simplify the states financial
administration. II also would render
the operation OF the budget law much
more effective, and would ms lSe Viz
Einia financial statistics comparable
with those OF the federal government
and Of most of the other states OF the
: union.
Abolition OF Fees.
Some of the state administrative
officials are still allowed to retain GER
tain fees or commissions In addition
/ to their regular compensation. The
cor>sni ssion strongly recommends that
all fees and commissions now paid
, state officisls-the secretary OF the