The Mena weekly star., 1921-02-17
AUDIT JEFFERSON
 HIGHWAY RECORDS
Some Irregularities in Conduct and Management of the Districts Af- fairs Pointed Outright on Inn
 provement Expensive.


 proyement Expensive.
 ! As previously stated in The Star at the instance of Judge Fl. w. Fin. ger, complete audit of the affairs of Road Improvement District No. 1, o1 Polk county, Generally known as the Jefferson Highway, has been made by Minor Pipkin and F. J. Smith. The result of this audit, which points tc several apparent irregularities in the management of the districts affairs has been filed, and now is onefile ir the office of the County clerk, and will be acted upon by Judge Finger with in the time prescribed by law.
 The outstanding points of the re. port are, perhaps, the way in which the contract for gravel has beer handled, the alleged over payment of the engineering company and the claim that the purchase of an automo- bile and the selection of depository bank was done in contravention to the law that prohibits the commis- sioners making any contract with q person, firm or corporation in which any of.the commissioners is interested
 An even more impressive assertion IS that, because of the fight made by 1 those opposed to the improvement the district suffered loss in the sale of the bonds amounting to 12 per cent or, in other words, the bonds could have been delivered at 102 that, be- cause of the fight, were finally sold at 90 cents.
 The full report is here submitted.
 Polk County Court.
 Auditors Report
 To the Honorable II. w. Finger, Coun-
 ty Judge of Polk County, Arkansas
 In compliance with your request the undersigned have investigated the financial affairs of Road Improvement District No. 1, of Polk county, for the purpose of ascertaining and reporting to you such general facts as should De i of interest to the taxpayers of the district, and have also examined the annual and supplemental accounts rendered to the County court by the commissioners of the district covering the period from March is, 1919 tc February 4, 1921, with a view to ad. vising your Honor as to whether ol not such accounts contain any unjust illegal or improper charges or credits; whether or not the accounts filed by the commissioners are properly item ized and whether or not proper vouch. CTS for all expenditures so shown have been filed with such accounts. The results of our labors are set forth in the following statements:
 Estimate of the Total Cost of the I'm
 proyement.
 The total cost of the highway to be improved under the plans and specif- cations originally adopted, was esti- mated by the engineer at $617 7,860.70 but we were told by the engineer in charge that, due to the adoption of changes in the plans, the original esti- mate has been reduced by ap- proximately $67,000 and that the total estimate of the cost of the high way may be placed at approximately $550,000.
 Construction Contracts. Contracts for construction work have not been awarded in gross, but upon the basis of fixed price for the quantity of work to be performed the total sum to be paid under each contract depending upon the amount of work done, regardless of whether the original estimate of the amount of such work to be done hereunder, and { sto fnc ha 4x h<, kxr tt. a contractor according to such estimate The estimated amount of contracts that have been awarded upon this basis are as follows:
 Early & Jones ....... .$398, ,333.72 Blodgett Construction Go. 136,393.1s Dell Sales %. ............ S,0l6.Sy Independent Rock Go. . 32,000.0l Total ................. $574, TAP. 70 The above figures are based upon the original estimated cost of i'm provement and do not take into ac- count the reductions that have since been made by reason ef the chang changes es made in the plans. In addition to the above figures the original estimate called for the expenditure of a little more than $43,000 for gravel, etc. not included in any of the contracts above mentioned, but this amount is also to be reduced somewhat by reason of the changes in plans already men toned
 Bonded Indebtedness.
 Bonds of the district to the amount of $500,000 have been issued and the entire issue has been sold to the Hanchett Bond Company, of Chicago Illinois, at 90 cents on the dollar, net ting the district, before deducting commission and other costs incident to negotiating the sale of the bonds S450,000, but from this amount the commissions and costs amounting tc $6,057 must be deducted, leaving a net balance of $443,943. The commission and other costs of negotiating the sale and delivery of the bonds was made up of the following items:
 W. Nj. Elxins, commission, .$5,000.0( w. M. Elkins, expenses, .... 485.0( Printing bonds, ,.......... 422.0( Attorneys fee for approving
 bond issue, .............. l50.Ot lOtal po,OO t.Ut Under the contract for the sale of the bonds, W. M. Elkins agreed to pay |