REPORTS ON CITY ACCOUNTS.

Auckland Star, Volume VII, Issue 2047, 1 September 1876, Page 3

REPORTS ON CITY ACCOUNTS.

salient points of the two reports on City Accounts which we have not yet published, those of Mr P. M *Vv\ anX UI Brodie may be thus summarized : tL fk npon the collec«°n of rates aemarks : r lhe method m which this work is to be performed f'. IIIS76'JJ°(!1 lI S76'JJ°(! I.?° not thl»k a better plan c*n be devised. The collector or receiver is to be supplied with receipt forms filled in for the proper amount ana numbered consecutively, and theso he hands over to parties paying rates. The numbers of the jecelpts should, of coomb, tally with the nurnbars of the notice paper, and also with the ratepayer's uumber in the assessment books. So the collector or receiver would simply have to take the notice paper and tliP cash, *prpin?P hthe. num, be. r corresponding in hts prepared recent book, and if the amount agreed hand over the receipt to the payer, retaining the notice paper. He should have nothing to do with the posting up of thei money to credit of the individuals—that is outside of his province, and should be d-.ne elsewhere so as always to bava at hand a constant and efficient check. It is against all rule, as far as I have seen, for the receiver to post the individual amounts in the cate of partial payments, receiver would endorse payment upon the notice paper, and return the paper so endorsed tn th e ratepayer to be again produced by him upon tho next occasion of payment. He would also endorse su.-h pigment upun tho receipt form In the book, but such form would not bo excised troni the book or hiiidecl to the ratepayer until the whole was paid. By thi3 means the public would «ot bd detained a moment in tho collector s office, and much trouble and risk ef confusion would Ije save;! to him. By the present .system ho his to nuke six entries for each payment. The collector reqnires only one bock, viz., v day or tanlibook. H« a ould have nuthing to do with tlu< columns in tho rate-book. Mr McTnvish explains the form of rate-book he would recommend, and says: -'• The receipt-books, pjoperly male up and checked in the accountant's department should be handed to him when the notice papers are issued^ and all ha should do is to receive the rates, taxes, fines, rents, tolls, and everything the property of the Council as per the receipts in his possession, keep a correct account of the same, ana pay the total amount daily iuto tue bank tj credit of Borough Funds Account. . . . The work of the treasurer is miscellaneous, and Appears large in the aggregate, but wlun dissected it is not really excessive, involving only a few .entries daily, (except on particular occasions), and the daily entries not always postud. I observe the receiver's clear ca*h-book has not been initialed by thd treasurer since 24th June. That the book docs not contain a true account of the moneys received (Waterworks rates being omitted by order of the Town Cierk) since s»me date. That the bank account has not been posted in the treasurer's ledger since 10th July. All the money received is not banked daily, in consequence of having so many hank accounts, and sin ill sums received on particular accounts are retaintd in treasurer's hands until they accumulate sufficiently to make a decent deposit, so that the receiver's cash book does not at all times correspond with the bank pass-bo jk. It is desirable that the ledger should show at any moment the balance of any particular account as well as the whole of the Bor. ugn Fund arid it is simple and easy enough to effect this." Mr McTavish lure explains the form of book he would recommend and lefers to the journal, petty casu-book, etc. U« continues :—" as the rates are collected half yearly, the audit should be so too ; and I see by clause 118, page 20, it is proposed that quarterly audits be made ; but this need not occasion any, or, at any rate, much extra trouble Waterworks : With occasional supplementary clerical assistance when wanted, I see no reason to create a sepnrate department for the Waterworks Mr Philips infoimod me it wa3 in consideration to have a^ second receiver specially appointed ior this particular duty, and 1 asked for my opinion ; but,in lhe.face of my remarks as to receivers' duties, T cannot recommend such an appointment, and consider it would lead to confusion All Waterworks' rates, as well as others, must go into one common Borough Fund. (See clause 4, pane 93 ; part 9, pages 16 and lu7 ; page 16, already allud-.d to.) Tiiere would thus be two receivers paying into one fund /rom separate books and from different accounts, which I tiling would be objectionable. In tho duties s«t down on page 2 of this report, 1 find that it is contemplated to " institute a system" fur Waterworks, ap*rt from the general system herein comprehended. In thit caso this report will be defunct, as I have not taken such into account Generally, I cousider that the Town Clerk and treasurer, or accountant with the assistance of the receiver, and occasional clerical aid will be quite able to overtake all the work of the Council without any danger of any portion falling into arrears. By tb?s. I mean that all tolls, rates receipts, vouchers for payments, and all book 3of account, ledgers, etc , should ha prepared and kept in tiie Town clerk's office by Himself and the treasurer, or accountant and clerks, and the receiver's duties be confined solely to the receipt of moneys and payment of same into the bank. Borough fund, daily. I think all notices of rates should be posted to secure uniformity of delivery. This would save £50 a year additional payments to one of your valuers. The Inspector of Dangerous Goods' duties migbt I think be safely entrusted to the Inspector of Nuisances, and the money saved, £20 a year, appropriated to supplement your messenger's wurkly pay of 12a. which can hardly be considored adequate for his decent support.— ACCOUNT i." T.

Mr Brodia reports under the signature of " Kxperentia Docet," and states that "The principal question is, Can the annual rates made and levied be included in one book ? In my opinion this can be done, and appended in a form that might be adopted and which (I am informed) is used in the City oi Edinbu-Rh. The schedules of general and special rates (15 and 17, v.C, Act, 1807) are exactly simitar, and I see nothing to prohibit their being (with the special rate for Waterworks Loan) recorded all together, if the collection thereof will be theroby simplified If the assessments are to be all included in one book, the rate notices should bo issued on one paper. To carry out this plan »11 the rates should dato from the same day, if possible. . . . Complaints have, I know been frequently made in cases where property has changed hanas, and the in-coming tenant or new owner has inquired what rateß ara due ih-reon, that subsequent demands are made for ktrears, when he Imagined he h>.d paii all that was due in taking possession. With so many different rate-books to rtsff;r to. accidents of this kind are likely to 0(0 1-. 'if if there were a separate ledger account kept tjs every property in the city, an inquirer c< uld then see at 4 glance if all rates were paid up. Of course, it would entail a large amount of work to start an account of this description, but afterwards this annual labour would be no more than posting into the receiver's fair cash-book. Rates are levied on the occupier or owner. The former is therefore the basis of operations. Expenditure : Whether the work of the cash-book (there are aix), journal, and ledger cannot be so ordered that the ledger should at any moment showr the state of any account, &c There are nearly 400 ledger accounts, the state of each appearing on the face of it, and any information required being therefore obtainable under the several headings. Whether the City Council accounts should be kept on the mercantile or banking principle appears to be the question at issue. As I cannot see tuat any similarity exists between the collection of rate*—the main source of city revenue—and mercantile everyday transactions, I incline to the banking system. There can be no doubt as to which is the simplest, and all the Council's requirements would be mat, without a multiplicity of several entries and confusing verbiage." Mr tJrodie here describes vi hat he regards as the proper system of collecting rates. He thinks there should always be two in the receiver's department, " otherwise there is no advantage in having the increased accommodation there." He does not thiuk there is any necessity of extra assistance in the Waterworks department, the collection of the special rate (water) being a very simple matter for the treasurer to deal with He considers that pending the alteration of Municipal laws, it wouJd not be wise to make aDy change", and concludes. "It appears that the paid to the three chief clerks, together wi'-h the Mayor's allowance, at the present time amounts to exactly the same as wa< paid to the sauae officials five years ago, when the Council cune into existence. It is not exaggeration to say that the work has since then increased tenfold, and that this year tho additional work will be more than ever,"