Pocahontas star herald., 1924-02-15

the Collector arising from an audit
of his books last summer by the Spec
ial Auditors, we consider il inadviS-
able that we should investigate or
make report at this time, as much of
the amount claimed seems TO MS TO be
question of law as well as fact and
the same being before the Court for
adjudication.
But in the event they should fail to
be adjusted by the Court we may feel
IL our du.y to the County, aS well as
all concerned, to fully investigate said
claims, and would welcome any in
structiOns or advise from your Honor
pertaining to our duties In the matter
We would respectfully call attention
tn the Financial Statement herein sub
mittcd, especially to the custom of
Ovprdrawing the appropriations, par;ic-
ularly to the fact that all the appro-
priatiOns designated by law to meet
the necessary expenses are Overdrawn
with the single exception Of the pau
per fund. The two funds over which
the County Judge has most control he
ing the most Oycrdrawn, that is, the
county General and Emergency funds.
The amounts drawn on them being
abOu. twice the appropriations.
We wish to call attention to the
further fact that the expenditures in
excess of receipts for the period cover
ed by the report, ie. from Oct. % to
oct. %, are greater than appear from
the fact that the item of fines collect
ed were uncOllected fines coming over
from previous years and were greater
than the fines assessed for the year
covered by the report by $1,000.
We further find that over 500 in
stationery warrants were included in.
the item of script cancelled and listed
os receipts. This fund not being pro
yidpd for from the mill levy but
from fees paid in by the County and
Circuit Clerk. these warrants should
not have been credited as receipts
from the 3 mill levy, but charged as
an overdraft on the Stationery Fund.
Therefore had there been only two
fines assessed for the year mentioned
and only warrants derived from the 5I
mill levy credited to the script cancel
ed from the levy, the true receipts
would be $1,000 less than is shown In
the report, making the true amount OF
expenditures in excess of receipts
over S4,5OO instead Of $500 as shown
in the report.
We find the Quorum Court, regard
less of these deficiencies in the re-
ceipts or excess of expenditures ana
u decreasing assessment reducing the
levy to care for the fixed expenses OF
the County to Ia mills which will
produce less than $4,000 in revenue
than was spent last year on the
two funds. County General and Circuit
Court. The other | 3-4 mills allowed
for County purposes being divided
among the following funds, for pur-
chase of site for new Pauper Home. |
1-1G mill payable in cash, 1-2 mill for
the emergency fund, payable in cash
this is not Il fund created by law, but
when properly administered serves
useful purpose especially when script
values are deprecated allowing the
payment OF cash for County General
purposes. II properly administered II
only increases the County General
fund, but improperly. administered IL
widens the scope of things to which |
County funds may be applied, limited
only by the opinions and discretion Of !
the County Judge and In our opinion |
things not authorized by the Quorum
Court nor permitted by law have been |
paid from this fund, and that debts |
have been incurred by Oyerdrafts on
this fund contrary to law and the |
best interest of the people. The re-
mainder appOrtioned as follows: l-2 i
Ia,
Bridge, 3-S mill for County Demon
stratiOn, the balance SIG mills Is di- |
vided among the four proposed and
much needed bridges tO-wit: Dials |
Creek. FOurche, ElevenpOint and Spring |
River. These leyies are in script for |
the purpose of accommodating a fund
upOn which warrants may be drawn
to build these bridges, which will cost |
about $4,000. perhaps more. In our
opiniOn these levies will serve no use |
full purpose unless and until the eX-
penditures for the other purposes are
kept within the appropriations, and as
the making of these levies so reduce |
the amount that can be levied and col |
lected for the fixed lawful expense. |
can these lawful mandatory claims
against the County be met? II not, |
are we to continue to Overdraw the ap- |
preparations and thereby pile up more
debts by putting more script In circu-
lation, than we take up? II we do,
what will be our condition when we
come to build our bridges say four
years from now? Our debt will be in
all probability be double what it is
at present. Then should we issue war
rants to build the bridges, say $4,000.
that would mean SJ0,0OO script in cir
culation and If with $4,000 in circula-
tion as now. it is worth 10 cents on
the dollar. what will 1t he worth when
we have S5O,OOO In circulation? Would
anyone take script for building the
bridges under these circumstances
Even though We keep within the ap-
preparations for other purposes and
should we decide to build the bridges
anytime within or 10 years. We would
have to double the amount of our
present debt.
The amount appropriated and the
levies made by the last levying court
for internal improvements are as fol-
lows:
Appropriation Levy
FOurche Bridge 10000 In script l-lG.
Dials Bridge 1000 in scrip lie
81.