The Wrangell sentinel., 1939-08-18
KetChikan Authorizes Installation
New Bookkeeping System For City

KETGHIKAN - Councilmen vot-
ed last night to straighten out the
citys nloosea bookkeeping system,
and at the same time heard sad news
further eomplicating the financial
situation-a letter from Delegate
Dimond indicating the $4,000
PWA grant sought to make up the
deficit cannot be obtained, at least
not until after congress meets again.
The council authorized Marshall
Cruteher to set up an assessment
roll and install a new accounting
system after he reported on an aud
it of the eity's books. He condemned
the present memorandum system"
in strong terms for its lack of in
ternal control"
The report was accompanied by
many financial statements tables
OF statistics and sundry information
bearing on the city's affairs and Is
the most thorough review of the
city's finances that has ever been
filed.
No Dishonesty
After assuring the council he was
convinced there had been no dis
honesty in past years, Crutcher
pointed out that under the present
system, if I were your treasurer, I
could get away with several thous-
and dollars a year and no auditor
could catch it. You haven't any
control" He said it would take a
asupermann to handle all city fin
aneial details properly without as
sistance.
Concerning the PWA grant. Dele
gate Dimond, writing while congress
was still in session, said that talks
with PWA officials indicated no
more money is on hand for projects
and the outlook is not bright at
present" It is not believed congress
appropriated any additional money
for PWA in the closing days of the
session.
Improved Tax Records
Regarding the assessment roll,
Crutcher said no formal assessment
roll has been prepared for property
taxation for several years and tax
records generally could be improved.
A loose leaf system has been used.
If one of the sheets were lost, which
might easily happen, there would
be no way to collect delinquent taxes
he said.
THE lack of internal control has
prevented a satisfactory yerifieationI
of delinquent taxes" he declared
concerning his audit report.
Under the old system the clerk
could collect taxes, destroy a tax
sheet and be in no danger Of being
detected, Crutcher told the council.
The new assessment roll will be kept
in a large, bound ledger which
Crutcher recommended being kept
under lock and key.
Crutcher advised the council to
hire a typist to prepare the roll un-
der supervision of the clerk, but
city ordinance prevents the clerk
from hiring an assistant with city
funds, so the job was turned over to
Crutcher, who will hire whatever
assistance he needs and bill the
city for it.
Would Modernize Accounting
The system of accounting that
Crutcher recommended and the
council authorized is not the simple
balance sheet, used in the past, but
recognizes subdivisions of the city's
activities which are known as funds.
1t is based on the work of the Ma
tional Committee on Municipal Ac-
counting in Chicago, which has done
work on a broad scale to modernize
and clarity municipal accounting.
Grutcher said the old system is
only memorandum record of
monthly receipts and expenditures
and lacks the necessary internal
checks. AS a memorandum system
it is fine, he said, but is not suf-
ficient.
The purchasing system lacks cen
tral control, Crutcher declared. The
city's books fail to prove by invoice
If goods are actually received, he
said.
Crutcher mentioned the city's cen
trail garage as an example of care
lessness. meterless gas pump is
used so there is no way to keep a
record to show theft or misuse, he
warned
Under the old cash book system a
clerk could help himself to $1,000 at
the first of the month for stock
speculation and not be detected as
long as he returned the money by
the end of the month, Crutcher said
He advised the council the fines
and permit system could result in
graft and fixes.
Cash Records In Balance
The audit report mentioned that
the cash records of the city were
found in balance and were in a
generally satisfactory condition, but
that it was impractical to expect a
city clerk to be a trained bookkeep-
err
1T would take a superman" to