The preparation of estimates.

Estimates open to inspection.

uniform throughout the county, shall be vested exclusively in the county council; and neither the board of county commissioners, nor any county officer or officers, shall have power to fix the rate for any such purpose whatever. The power of making appropriations of money to be paid out of the county treasury shall be vested exclusively in such council, and, except as in this act otherwise expressly provided, no money shall be drawn from such treasury but in pursuance of appropriations so made.

Before the Thursday following the first Monday in August, of each year, every county officer shall prepare an estimate, itemized with as great particularity as possible, of the amount of money required for his office for the ensuing calendar year; every clerk of a court or courts of a county shall prepare a separate similarly itemized estimate of the amount required for such year for each court of which he is clerk, and when a court consists of two or more judges who preside in separate rooms, or over separate divisions of the court, a separate similarly itemized estimate for court expenses in each room so presided in; and every board of county commissioners shall prepare a separate and similarly itemized estimate of all money to be drawn by the members of said board, and of all expenditures to be made by the board, or pursuant to its order, during such year for any and all purposes whatever. To each of such estimates there shall be appended a certificate verified by the oath of the officer preparing the same to the effect that in his opinion the amount fixed in each item will be required for the purpose indicated thereby.

All of the above provided for estimates when so prepared, other than the one prepared by the county auditor, shall be presented to said auditor on or before the Wednesday following the first Monday in August, and they, together with the one so prepared by him, shall be kept on file in his office subject to inspection by any taxpayer of the county from the time they are filed. The county auditor shall give notice by publication one time in each of two leading newspapers of general circulation, printed and published in the county, if there be such, representing respectively the two

political parties casting the highest number of votes in such county at the last preceding general election, of the aggregate amount of each of said estimates before their presentation to the council.

and action

on estimates.

At the regular annual meeting of the council on the first Tuesday Presentation after the first Monday in September, the auditor shall present all said estimates thereto, and may make such recommendation to the council with reference to the estimates as may to him seem proper. And it shall be his duty before such meeting of the council to prepare an ordinance in proper form, to be adopted by the council, fixing the rate of taxation for the taxes to be collected in the ensuing calendar year, and also an ordinance making an appropriation by items for such calendar year for the various purposes for which all of the above estimates are required. The council at said meeting shall act upon such ordinances, and by adopting the same or amended or substituted ordinances fix the tax rate within the limit prescribed by law, and make the appropriations. Each ordinance shall be read upon at least two separate days before its final adoption. The council shall have full power to require any estimate not sufficiently itemized to be so itemized by the person who prepared the same, and to appropriate for any purpose a sum not greater than that estimated in the item therefor. By a threefourths vote of the council, and not otherwise, an appropriation may be made for an item not contained in any estimate or for a greater amount than that named in any item of an estimate.

220. Centralization of Administrative Supervision

This document illustrates the exercise of the power of removal by the governor of the state of New York:

STATE OF NEw York,

Executive Chamber.

In the matter of the charges preferred against Thomas Hutson, county treasurer of the county of Chautauqua Order of Removal.

The charges and the hearing in the case.

The order.

Charges of misconduct and malfeasance in office having been heretofore preferred by Herman Sixbey and Seth Scriven against Thomas Hutson the county treasurer of the county of Chautauqua and a copy of the said charges having been served on the said Hutson and an opportunity having been given him to be heard in his defense, and he having filed an answer denying any misconduct or neglect of duty, and an order having been made by me appointing Winfield S. Thrasher of the village of Dayton, county of Cattaraugus, commissioner to take the testimony and the examination of witnesses as to the truth of the said charges and to report the same to me and also the material facts which he deems to be established by the evidence, and the said commissioner having taken the testimony relating to such charges and in refutation thereof, and his report bearing date October 13, 1899, and the evidence taken by him, having been duly filed, and it appearing to me after an examination of the same that certain of the said charges are true, that in violation of law and of his duty as treasurer he neglected to report to the board of supervisors of Chautauqua county the amount of interest received by him on county funds; that he accepted a present of $100 from the Fredonia National Bank, one of the banks in which the funds of the county were deposited by him; that the aggregate amount of said interest and present, to wit, $1695.92 was kept and retained by him as his own property until after the commencement of this proceeding, when said amount was paid by him into the treasury of the county; it is therefore

Ordered that the said Thomas Hutson be and he hereby is removed from the said office of county treasurer of the county of Chautauqua.

Given under my hand and the Privy Seal of the State at the Capitol in the city of Albany this seventeenth day of October in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ninety-nine. THEODORE ROOSEVELT.

By the Governor:

WILLIAM J. YOUNGS,

Secretary to the Governor.

221. Central Control of Local Finances

One of the most serious problems of local government is the control of the financial operations of local officers, especially where one party remains in power from decade to decade. Ohio endeavors to maintain publicity and accountability throughout the state by vesting financial supervision in a central bureau:

bureau of

inspection.

There is hereby established in the department of the auditor The of state, a bureau to be known as the bureau of inspection and supervision of public offices; the principal officer of said bureau shall be known as the chief inspector and supervisor of public offices, and as such chief inspector, shall appoint not exceeding three deputies, no more than two of whom shall be of the same political party, who shall each receive a salary not exceeding two thousand dollars per annum, and a clerk who shall receive a salary not exceeding fifteen hundred dollars per annum, and in addition thereto an allowance for all necessary travelling and hotel expenses while absent from their places of residence in the discharge of their official duties. . .

system of accounting.

The auditor of state through said bureau shall formulate, pre- The scribe and install a system of accounting and reporting, in conformity with the provisions of this act, that shall be uniform for every public office and every public account of the same class, and which shall exhibit true accounts and detailed statements of funds collected, received and expended for account of the public for any purpose whatever, and by all public officers, employes or other persons, such accounts to show the receipt, use and disposition of all public property, and the income, if any, derived therefrom, and of all sources of public income and amounts due and received from each source, all receipts, vouchers and other documents kept, or that may be required to be kept, necessary to isolate and prove the validity of every transaction, and all statements and reports, made or required to be made, for the internal administration of the office to which they pertain, and all reports published, or that may be required to be published, for the in

Inspection

of accounts.

formation of the people, regarding any and all details of the financial administration of public affairs.

The auditor of state, a deputy inspector and supervisor, and every state examiner shall have power by himself or by any person legally appointed to perform the service, and shall make such examination at least once a year. On every such examination inquiry shall be made as to the financial conditions and resources of the taxing district; whether the constitution and statutory laws of the state, the ordinances and orders of the taxing district and the requirements of the bureau of inspection and supervision of public offices have been properly complied with; and into the methods and accuracy of the accounts and reports.