Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1936-04-24
General Audit OF
County Accounts To
Be Made Shortly
Commissioners Get Behind Plan
To Push Bridge Across
Potomac At Whites Ferry

I An inquiry was being made by
representatives of the Montgomery
County Commissioners this week to de-
termine the possibilities of the State
controllers office conducting the gem
eral audit of all county accounts
authorized by the board at it's meet
ing Tuesday.
The commissioners likewise moved
to enlist the support of Vir-
ginia's congressional delegation in the
Whites Ferry Bridge proposal and to
have Gov. Nice veto the bill enacted
recently to extend all uncollected
suburban district street improvement
assessments for 10 years.
A letter was to be forwarded to the
State controller to ascertain whether
his department has the authority to
make the audit, approved by the
board on the recommendations of
Commissioner Charles E. King. The
accounting would embrace all accounts
from 1927 to the present.
King said the audit should be
carried out by disinterested firm and
added that he will move to have the
board appropriate sufficient funds for
this purpose if it should develop the
controller is not empowered to do the
work.
1t was said by King that the audit
is needed because of all this financial
mix-up" in county accounts. He ex-
planned to newspaper men the year
1927 was chosen merely as an arbi-
trary date and the accounting may
be carried back even further than
that" if need arises.
Commissioner Robert D. Hagner de-
clared the controllers office undoubt-
ledly can audit the accounts of State
offices located in the county, but de-
clared he is reasonably certain it has
no authority to handle the accounts
of county departments.
Board members voted to write C. H.
Osborne, chairman of the Democratic
State Central Committee for Loudoun
County, requesting him to appeal to
members of the Virginia delegation in
Congress for help in having bridge
built across the Potomac River at
Whites Ferry visa the work Of re-
building the spans destroyed in the
flood is undertaken.
Members Of the Fusion bloc con-
trolling the board forced through a
proposal by Commissioner Paul
Coughlan that Gov. Nice be asked to
kill the bill which Senator Stedman
Prescott has passed by the Legisla-
Sce to extend uncollected front-foot
bS fit assessments made for subur-
ban district street improvements.
Coughlan said the bill "is discrim-
natory on its fact" and added that he
doubts the constitutionality of such a
proposal. *@
The board likewise voted over the
objection of the Democratic minority
group to promote Jesse w. Nicholson,
Jr., to assistant auditor at salary Of
$1,000 a year and dismiss Wilson
Stewart of Silver Spring from the
auditors Office, effective May 1.
John T. Culver of Forest Glen was
appointed assistant assessor, effective
May 1, at salary of $1,000 a year,
while the salary of Miss Ardean 0w-
ings, deputy clerk to the board, was
increased from $1,000 to $1,000 an
nually.
The board denied request by
Mrs. Clara Holmes, president of the
Board of Election Supervisors, to au-
thorize an increase Of from 50 to so
per diem for registration officers, cleo
lfio--e -ks and Judges