Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1922-02-15
TOWN REPORTS

subject of town reports on their
minds in most serious way. That a
report of a towns business as trans
acted by it's officers is due the voters
in a printed form is not deniable, but
many reports as now issued give no
comprehensive idea of the towns
business, are too volumnious and
therefore wasteful.
1t may be considered bad business
and poor ethics for a newspaper with
a printing Office which solicits town
report printing to make this state
ment and advise a more condensed
form Of report, but there has been a
growing conviction in this Office for
years that there is much effort and
money wasted in the method now used
almost universally by town officers in
making a report to the voters.
This method consists of giving item
by item the payments made by the
selectnen, overseer and road men with
footings for the totals. AS the bust
ness of towns has grown in the past
few years the number of items has
increased until reports of these de-
partments have become $long, tire
some and uninteligible, and the cost
of issuing has increased apace. All
such printing must be figured on the
page basis and every item adds to
the space required. The number of
items in the average town report has
increased from $3.50 to 5000 in the
past few years and officers wonder
why their reports cost no ore. A town
report to them is a town report, but
to the printer town report IS so
many pages of items, each page cost
ing so much to print.
Then there has come added depart
ments such as the report of the dis
trict health officer which adds several
pages to each report and several dol
lars to the cost.
A town report in which the auditors
summarized the expenditures of the
selectmen into 25 or so items instead
of listing several hundred, perhaps,
and doing the same thing to the over
seer's expenditures, and the road
work as well, would not only save
the town money but would make a
more intelligent and understandable
report.
We believe the statutes provide that
the auditors shall prepare report
with the items, but such report
does not, in the judgment of the writ
err, have to be printed. Prepare the
report by items but have printed a
comprehensive SUNNI arization. Who
ever wants the items is privileged to
examine them.
Tt is almost impossible to tell from
many reports what the grand list of
a town is, what the tax rate is, and
what the Indebtedness or assets of a
town are. In the name of common
sense what is the use then of town
reports as now issued.
A Is to "a page summarized report
of most towns would be cheaper, bet
ter and more valued than the long
drawn out affairs most towns have
fallen into the habit of issuing. For
example, Barton village with its
electric and water departments does
an annual gross business of $780, 900 or
$4,000. It's report last year, the
most comprehensive and satisfactory
ever issued, was "a pages in size,
where in previous years with less
business it has been twice as large.
What is the sense of listing every
order given John Doe and Richard
Roe for shoveling snow, boarding a
town charge or for cutting brush be-
side the highway? One item saying
that John Doe received so much for
boarding a town charge so many
weeks would be understood by every
one when a score of items scattered
throughout the years business of the
overseer would mean nothing to the
average voter. One line telling how
much Richard Roe was paid for him
self and team for rolling roads for
the winter is better than a dozen
items for such work.
If the law needs changing to allow
simplified and therefore cheaper and
more understandable report let us
have the law changed. The present
system is becoming cumbersome and
expensive.
A town report is not necessarily q
town report as it is today. Many OF
them are numerous pages of items
and figures which lead nowhere but
cost the voters money to print.
We may not gain the love of fel
low printers in advocating les!
printing, but our sense of justice ant
reasonableness tells US that the pres
ent plan is wasteful. For every pag,
Of printed matter in a report tn,
printer must get his pay, but let u!
lessen the number of pages.
1t is good news to know that many
towns have made gain on their in
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