Casper Daily Tribune Newspaper, May 24, 1925, Page 7

? | SUNDAY, MAY. 24; 1925 (Continued Fier: Fage One) eyted by the Casper Country club and representing the unpaid balance from the sale of what was generally Known as the County Poor Farm, consisting of 660 acres of land, for a total consideration of $25,000, Notes represented by the above amount | are detailed as follows: Due Date Int. Rate Amount November 1, 1925 $3,000 November 1, 192 3,000 November 1, 192 5,00 November 1, 192% .. 3,080, November 1, 1929 ~ 3,009 Taxes Receivable—Less Reserve—$127,977.10. This amount represents the eral fund's portion of taxes levied ror the year quent May 20, 1925. On account of the fact that taxes are payable in two equal install- ments November 10th of the year in which the taxes are levied, and May 10th of ¢t next succeeding year, it js but natural that a large portion of the revenue applicable to meet expenses for the calendar year will not be collected until after the close of the year, The total amount of un- cojlected tax revenue at December 31, eneral fund expenses for said year totuls $142,- 196.78, from which we have made provision for uncoilectible items esti- mated at $14,219.68, as shown by the following computation: General county fund tax levy 1924, valuation $9 tax rate 2,965. Collection 1924 tax le October, 1924 collections November, 192% collections 108,57 December, 1924 collections 32,540.82 gen- lected delin- (exhibit A ~$142,196. Less—reserve for uncol- lectible items estimated at ten per cent -- se Total uncolected 14,219.68 Net taxes receivable— general fund --.— $127,977.10 Amount Due Taxing and Other Trust .Funds—$1,027,244.56. Amounts due the several taxing funds December 31, 1924, in the to- tal amount shown above are detailed on the balance sheet as follows: Btate of Wyoming--,---$ 65,9) 9 County high school fund 322,997.16 County general school fund County library fund County high school bond fund Bchool fund . _ City of Casper City of Mills -. Town of Evansville Narious school districts ounty high school—spe- cial bond fund - Rertificate of redemption fund €ash “over” bond interest 277,375.55 1,322.84 35.42 Total, as above -<. $1,027,244.56 We found it necessary to make two corrections in the treasurer's ac- counts with the County High Schoel fund, due to the fact that high rehool bonds retired totaling $25. 000 had been erroneously charged to this fund and the proceeds of a spe- clal county high school bond -issue toaling $501,960 had been credited to this fund. - We verified all transactions for the year affecting the various taxing funds. County Overdraft Placed at $143,035. While the laws of the state of Wyo- ming prohibit the creation of over- drafts in the county general or oth- er taxing funds, the provisions of law governing in such matters have “ anparently been entirely ignored in Natrona county, particularly during the last fiscal year. It should not be understood however, that the county has not avoided general fund over- drafts dyring all perlods prior to 1924. An examination of the records of prior years disclosed overdrafts in the general fund at various times since 1924 as follows: March, 1921 - June, 1922 .. September, 1922 Septerhber, 192: -- 34,755.29 At October 81, 1924 the overdraft in the county general fund reached the highest point in the history of the county, as far as we have beon able to determine, being in the to- tal amount of $242,418.52. Oil royal- ties received during November, 1924, for credit to the county general fund led $122,859.63, substantially re- ducing the overdraft in this fund, and with other revenue recefved re ft at Decen 48, which is $ 5,075.85 12,915.72 v= 18,995.57 tot ed in a net overdr 1, 1924, of $142,09 than can possibly be realized the collection of all unpaid 1924 taxes and taxes of previous years applicable to general fund ex- penses at sald date. Apparently no attempt has been made by the board of county com- missioners during the period under review to keep general fund ex- penses within the revenue available for the payment of such expenses. Yxpenses have not been budgeted And apppgrently no control over the expenditures has been maintained. On January 1, 1924, there was a balance in the county general fund of $11 .07, and during the year he county treasurer recelved and ‘wedited to the general fund revenue Aggregating $171,605.20, making a to- 4) avaiable for general fund ex- penses, exclusive of taxes receivable at the close of 1924, of $584,180.17, fetalled under ey ibit “C." The total gf4iwral fund expendi ures for the year were $841,124.47, oc nearly two and one-half times sreater than the general fund expen Utures for the year 192%, and an ietua! deficit, after taking. {nto con- ‘ideration all available revenue, both said and unpaid, of $145,666.38. In connection. with the enormous merease in general fund expendl- sures during 1924, your attention is lrected to exhibit ‘D” under which ixpenditures for the years 1922, 1923 ind 1924, are listed In c! ified form, the total expenditures for each of ihe years follow: * more trom $248,270.38 335,589.00 | - $42,120.47 Outstanding County Warrants $10,346. Neither the records’ in the county treasurer's office nor those of the county clerk are so arranged to re- flect at any given time -the amount of outstanding warrants, This can be determined under the present system only by a detailed verification of warrants issued by the county clerk and subsequently redeemed by the county treasurer. A summary of the charges and credits to the warrant account ¢dur- ing the year under review follows: Outstanding: Warrants January 1, 1924 +$ 27,188.97 AGd Warrants Issued dur- ing year .. » 709,293.51 . +s-~ 736,432.48 Redeemed 085.72 Voucher No. 13693, 60 trips back and forth Arminto to Casper, January 3, 1921 to December 6, 1924, at $12.00 each ..-.....- Voucher No, 18733 Mileage *..... Quarterly salary Coming and re- turning to meet- ings . 17 days, 3rd to ber 31, 744.00 $2,172.00 It will he observed from the above that Comfhissioner T. A, Hall was paid during November and Decem- ber, 1924, traveling expenses to and from meetings, in the total amount of $2,028.00. We have made an an- alysis of the payments made to Com- missioner Hall for the seven-year period beginning in 1917, and we find that during all vf this time Mr. $ 10,346.76 Ouz -verification of the outstand- ing Warrants disclosed an unaccount- ed for difference of $31.42 in connec- tion with warrants fssued prior to January 1, 1924, and redemed during sald year, which we believe is due to clerical errors. Certificates of Indebtedness $87,359. This item represents the total amount of county certificates of in- debtedness outstanding as at Decem- ber 31, 1924, as determined by our examination. The statutes of Wyoming, while making it mandatory upon boards of county commissioners to keep ex- penditures within the available rey- «ue, make provision whereby in+ debtedness ‘may be incurred in anti- cipation of reveniie from the current year's tax levy to the extent of 80 per cent of the anticipated revenue. The state law not only does not anticipate, but prohibits the creation of overdrafts or deficits. In view of the fact that the county commission- ers permitted the county general fund to be overdrawn contrary to law, in an amount substantially in excess of the total anticipated rev- enue from unpaid 1924 taxes, at De- cember 31, 1924, it is our opinion that all of the certificates of indebt- edness aggregating the amount shown above, werg illegally issued. There is no available revenue from which the certificates may be paid. Final collections from the 1924 tax levy will not be sufficient to wipe out the general fund overdraft at the close of the year, 1924 and 1926 revenue cannot legally be applied in redemption of certificates of indebt- edness representing expenses in- curred during 1924, and there is thervfore, no available revenue from which these certificates may legally be paid. The situation is in- deed a very serious one and is prin- cipally the result of wasteful and ex- travagant expenditures which could n> doubt have been avoided had the commisstoners attempted to proper- ly control the expenditures, keeping them within the necessary operating expen! of the county, and insist- ing that no expenditures be minde ex- cept for value received by the county, Accounts Payable, $35,269.55. This amount represents open accounts against the county as at December 31, 1924. The major portion of these have to do with ex- penditures of the Natrona county general hospital and items unpaid chargeable to roads and bridges. In view of the financial condition of the county general fund, explained above, it is questionable whether these claims can legally be paid without definite aproval from the taxpayers at an election called for that purpose. Commissioners’ Office Expenses. This schedule reflects the total ex- penditures during the year 1924 as departmental expenses of the county commissioners, classified as to the character of the expenditures, and totaling $18,614.59. As compared with the year, 1923, there is an increase of $16,116.74 in the expendi- tures of this department, or 745.45 per cent. In connection with expenses of of- ficial publications, with particulur reference to the publication of the county deliquent tax -list, attertion is directed to resolution of the board under date of January 8,1924, ap- pointing the Casper Tribune as the medium of official publications for the first six months of 1924, In ac cordance: with, this resolution, Voucher No. 1023, in the amount of $2,672.38 was pald the Casper Tribune, principally for the publica. tion of the county deliquent tax list, publication being made, on June llth, 18th and 25th, and on July 2, 1924, in accordance with the re quirements of Chapter 107, Secticn 2877 of the Compiled Wyoming Sta- tutes of 1920, On August 5, 1924, Voucher No, 10765 was drawn in favor of the Casper Herald for $1,505.90, or this amount ,$1,087.02 covered this paper's charge for publishing the delinquent tax listeon July Sth and 6th, 1924 The Wyoming state law, referred to above, provides that the defn. quent tax list must be published once a week for four weeks in a newspaper within the county, if there be one, and therefore the pub- Heation on July 5th and 6th did not meet the requirements of the sta- ute, In any event, there was no reason publish the same delin- quen in both newspapers, and the double expenditure was there fore, in our opinion, a groms waste of public funds . Atten is here directed to Schedule No, 2 of Exhibit “D,” re- flecting the amounts paid Commis- unpaid Hall regularly submitted bills to the county for traveling expense which were duly approved and paid. In some cases it was noted attendance at meetings at $5.00 per meeting has been charged in Neu of travel ex- pense, and {n such cases the minutes of the board disclose that no meet- j ings were held on the dates spect- fied, or if so held, the minutes dis- close Mr, Hall's lack of attendance. According to the record of pro- ceedings of the board of county. commissioners, Commissioner should have received pay for 283 trips between Arminto and Casper for the years 1917 to 1924, whereas he has been paid for 604 trips, re- sulting in excess charges for 371 trips, as shown below:” Number of one-way trips Ar- minto to Casper and Casper to Arminto charged for at $5.00 per one-way trip, billed as fees for meetings: ~-.......---..-. ‘Trips—Arminto to Casper and Casper to Arminto charged and paid at $6.00 per trip .... . Total trips charged -.. Trips necessarily made—record of proceedings .-...-.. Excess trips charged » Schedule No. 2 of Bx indicates overpayments to T. A. Hall in the amount of $2,910. 20 sum- marized as follows: Amount pald T. A. Hall, county commissionér Janu- ury 2,.1917 to Dec, 31, 1924 as fees for attendance at commissioners board meet- ings held or actually attend: ed and items charged as travel expense, with excep- tons ssssnc,, wow nnne eee $1,871.50 Record of proceedings show that on dates on which commissioners meetings were held and attended by T. A. Hall, he would be entitled to remuneration for 238 one-way trips from Arminto to Casper and return at rall- road fare rate of $2.10 per trip --. Net overpayment of travel expenses due #o charge for meetings of board at $5.00 per meeting instead of on basis of actual and neces- sary travel expense, not to exceed in any event ten cents per mile, as provided bylaw... wow--- 883.20 Exceptions—Payment to Commis- sioner T. A, Hall for traveling ex- penses previously overpaid, as above consisting of the following: November 6, 1924, voucher 12511 --=$ December 4, voucher a 708.00 1924, 720.00 » Youcher 600.00 $2,028.00 Total overpayment of traveling expense due from T. A. Hall wenen-=--$2,910.2 Under date of December 4, 1923, a resolution was adopted by the board appointing Dr. G. T. Morgan 4s full-time commissioner at a salary of $150 per month. We have been unable to find any provision in the law authorizing such an appoint- ment. Chapter 100, section 1426 of the Wyoming Compiled Statutes of 1920 provides:- “County commissoners shall re- ceive an annual salary of two hun- dred dollars, and in addition thereto, & per diem compensation of five dollars for each day actually 'em- ployed in the discharge of the duties of his office and his actual traveling expenses, not exceeding ten cents per mile for each mile actually and necessarily traveled in going to and returning from meetings of the board, and no other compensation whatever." Schedule No. 3 of Uxhibit "D" de tails the payments to Commissioner Morgan during the year 1924 total- ing $1,900, and indicates an over- payment not authorized by law of sjoner T. A, Hall as compensation and traveling expenses for the year 1917 to 1924, jaclusive, particular reference being made to the follow. ing vouchers allowed just prior to the expiration of his term of office, December 31, 1924. Voucher No. 12511, mileage covering trips from Ar: ¢ minto and back, 59 trips at $12.00 exch, from Janu ary 19} December 1, ¥ steer perce se 7086.90 1 $1,370. Schedule No, 4 of Exhibit “D" re- flects the amounts paid to Commis: sioner J, E. Scott ag compensation and traveling expen indicating an overpayment of $600, representing a charge for 10 extra days service each Month during 1924, The Wyoming statute provide: that each voucher presented to the commissioners for payment shall show In detail the nature and char- acter of each class of service or merchandise chargeable against the cotnty, This provision of the law has been very largely ignored, par- tiewlarly & the year ended De- Our examination disclosed that in very many cases vouchers were ap. proved for payment which Were not Itemized according to lew, and the service or merchandise charged for could not be {dentified, and the vouchers not being supported by re- celpted bills or Invoices, it is possible that in many instances payments may have been made twice for the same material or service, and in many cases the vouchers were sworn to by persons other than those to whom the vouchefs were made pay: able, the warrants being delivered to such persons without receipt of other evidence of authority. Under such a loose method of ex- nending public money it is impos sible to determine whether or net, in many cases, the expepditures rep- resent proper charges against the county, or whether the amounts Hall | Che Casper Sunday Cribune reached the individuals to whom due. The minutes of the board of county commissioners are very in-| complete, and while the re¢ords tndi- cate that County Clerk Alma Haw: ley was in attendance at.all of the commissioners’ meetings, we were advised that she, in fact, did not at- tend the meetings but was repre: nted by R, C, Van Denberg, who assumed the title of deputy county Pere se of County b > a Attomey’s Office. The folleying represents the expenses of operating the county attorney's office for the year 1924, and ts detailed as follows: County attorney, E. H. Foster, statutory salary-$ 1,999.92 Assistant county attorney, ‘W. H. Cass, salary. Assistant county attorne; W. J. Wehrll, salary. Salaries of stenographer: Office rent—telephone and telegraph expense - Automobile expense ~ Stationery expense - County attorney's travel ex: pense ..~---.-. Paid to county attorney as ,rent on office equipment d law Mbrary for years 1923 and 1924 -.--,-.. Office equipment, law books, ant cost of Cadillac auto. mobile purchased General expense 1,800,060 1,800.00 3,350.25 2,494.89 958.08 493.51 409.71 1,000.00 2,502.80 Total expenditures-.. As compared with the year 1922, the cost of operating the County Attorney's office for 1924 increased $10,210.88, or an increase of over 250 per t. To a large extent this increase {fs in direct violation of the ‘Wyoming Statutes. While the al- lowance authorized by law may not be adequate, the county commis sioners are without authority to au- thorize the payment of expenses contrary to specific provisions of the statutes, which provide, {n this case as follows: Section 1452 —Salary” - “County and prosecuting attor- neys shall receive the following an- nual salaries: In counties of the first class, two thousand ($2,000.00) dollars; in counties of the second Class, sixteen hundred ($1600.00) dol- “When any county attorney may be called upon to render services for his county pursuant to law, out- side of his county, or within his county at a distance of more than ten miles from the county seat, and away from his own residence, he shall receive his actual and neces- sary traveling expenses, not to ex- ceed ten cents per mile, in attend- ing to such services, in addition to his salary as county and prosecuting attorney. Section 1458— Office Rooms Tha board of county commission- ers of their respective counties may furntsh‘at the expense of the coun- ty, suitable office rooms located at the county seat of the county, for the use of the county attorney, at an expense not to exceed the sum of thirty dollars monthly. Sald of- fice shall be as near as practicable to court house.” From January, 1924 until August, the office rent paid by the county for the county attorney was at the rate of $182.50 per month, and from August to December at the rate of $170.00 per month, resulting in ex- cess payments not authorized by law of $152.50 per month and $140.00 per month, *respectively, or a total of $1,767.50, ‘While the law did not provide for the employment of assistant county attorneys on q rewular salary, dur- ing 24 the county nevertheless paid for the services of two such assistante at a salary of $150.00 per month each, aggregating $3,600.00 for the year. Stenographers’ salar- jes in the county attorney's office for the same period totaled $3,350.25, In addition to the above, the coun- ty commissioners purchased an auto- mobile for the use of the county at. torney at a cost of $1900.00 and paid the cost of operating such car at an average monthly cost of $105.77. Two payments made during the year to Foster and Webrlel covered by vouchers 12667 and 13168 for $500.00 each appear particularly questionable. According to notation on the vouchers these payments ‘were made to remunerate this firm for depreciation on office furniture and brary during 1928 and 1924 Poor and Pauper Expenses $85,806. County expenditures for poor and pauper relief, including county health department, which we under- stand was directly under the super- vision of Commissioner Morgan, are summarized as follows. Poor and pauper expense..$32,148.44 Poor and pauper patients at county hospital —2- Operating lo: year 1924, county hospital 16,255.40 Mothers’ pensions pald ... 4,260.00 County health department 14,692.58 Fees paid Gladys Mooring for collecting state com pensation — commissions paid for collection on patients, at county hos pital Salary pald @ r “Morgan in, county commissioner as “supervisor of county !n digents, and automobile expense — tat ‘Total ~~ $85,806.08 The above expenditure te equal to approximately 20.9 per cent of all of the general fund revenue for the year 1924, derived from the general tax levy. Apparently no attempt was to control expenditures for poor and pauper relief, and the rec- Orde indicate gross extravagance In this department, and if any super: vision at all was given to the work {t was apparently extremely inefficient, Your attention !s caljed to voucher dated July 1, 1924, drawn in favor of Hench Grocery and Market com 16,860,77 pany in the amount of $348.36 for groceries delivered to Bennett, Tay- lor, Cline, Mitchell and 8, Picer for the month of June, 1924, As an ex ample of the extravagant method under which expenditures were made, we are tabulating below the grocery bill for county indigent Ben- nett, residing at 1820 East Burling- ton street, for the month cf June, 1924; * Sundry groceries— June 2, 192 June June June June June June June June June June June 2 June June June 2 June June June June 2 June 3 June The count rds disclose many jAnstances where bills of the same general character as the above were incurred at the county's expense with apparently no control whatever. The county poor and paupers appar- ntly had unlimited credit to incur obligations, with the county under- writing the bills. No attempt seems to have been made even to centalize the purchases, In this connection attention is di- rected to Voucher 8294 in favor of Dr. H, R. Lathrop in the amount of $2,159.04. The above amount cov- ers Dr, Lathrop’s charges for medi- cal services rendered individuals, as follows: Henry Matheson, foot and arm Alice Phelps, curettment and laporatomy Freé Ownesberg, amputation of leg and skin grafting -- Emmett Stapleton, gun shot wound | automobile Clarence Spears, broken leg and lacerations Sadie Weathers, curet, Mrs. Bolner Mrs. Beane, injured back -- Mrs, Uland, tonsils - Foster Harrison, btoken arm T. Holland — - Lica, Menkler, laporatomy -- M. Berry Walter skull -.. E. J. Fredenny, arm --- E, Martin, burried hand Lee Shrives, bruised leg and and foot J. E. Smith, injured leg - Leo Tass, infected foot William White. injured leg 0. C, Welch, herniae --.... Merle Wiser, fractured foot Baxter, “fractured lacerated TOTAL o--=2-$2,159.04 The above payment to Dr. Lath: rop was made in accordance with his letter to the board of county com- missioners appearing in the commis- sioner’s minutes, Book 5, page 113, reading as follows: CLAIM OF H. R, LATHROP, Casper, Wyoming Surgical Section, Dr. H. R. Lathrop, Dr. Victor R. Dacken, To Honorable Board of County Commissioners of Natrona county, Wyoming. Gentlemen: Enclosed find revised bill of list of county patients which were turned into your board a year ago. List handed in at that time has been revised as collections were made and the attached list seems to be a hopelessly uncollectible one, IT have hired lawyers and col- lectors and made every reasonable effort to collect the money, but not being able to do so and ac- cepting the cases ut the time the bills were incurred with the under- standing that same should be paid by the county in such case, | am handing you the revised bill Yours very truly, H, R. LATHROP. The minutes of the commission do not disclose any record of the under- standing which Dr, Lathrop speaks of having with the commissioners in connection with the payment of this account, and if the seryices con- stitute proper county charges in the first place, there was apparen Teason for the employment of yers in an effort to collect the bills Bills as rendered by Dr. Dean for medicines purchased for county poor upkeep and taxicab charges were apparently paid wi out any attempt to verify the cor- rectness or reasonableness of the | charges and in many cases they ap Pear to us to be extremely sive. The support of orphan children was turned over to Mrs. V. O. Nes bett, for which substantial amounts were paid each week with no record evidence of the manner in which the expense was to be deiermined or the amounts involved. —~ The expenditures in this depart ment were reckless and extravagant in the extreme, and the manner in which many of them were allowed and paid by the board of county . missioners does not conform to the requirements of the Wyoming «tat utes, In our opinion the county com missioners should be held to a strict accountability for the disbursement of public funds in such a manne County Assessor’s Records Reviewed. While the scope of our examina exces: tion did now include a verification of individual assessments, in accordance with your request we made a cur- sory examination of the records in order to satisfy ourselves an to the regularity and completeness of as. sessments in general, We observed that the tax schedule of T, A. Hall for the year 1924 on file in the assessor's pffice shows Commissioner Hall's residence at his Tanch near Arminto as non-taxable property, The schedule indicates the value of this property to be $2,500 | sesment rolls. We were unable to find in the as- sessor's records any property, either real or personal, assessed in the nan of G. T. Morgan. Section 1520 compiled laws of Wyo: | ming 1920 provides a rate of $5 per day for the salary of deputy asses- sors in addition to their actua! and necessary traveling expenses, On July 1, 1924, Voucher No. 13303 in the amount of $211.50 was paid to J. C, Bell, as q deputy assessor, his time having been billed on the basis of seventy-five cents per hour. This amount is $61.50 in excess of the maximum statutory salary allowance for the month. During the same month J, C. Bell drew $160.75 purporting to repre- sent car hire paid to his wife, Maude R. Bell. The voucher {s purported to have been signed by Maude R. Bell, but the signature is apparently in the handwriting of J. C. Bell In the proceedings of the county Commissioners undar date of June 6, 1924, we find a record made of raise in the assessment of the Midwest Refining company and the Sinclair Crude Ojl Purchasing com- pany, covering property classed as oil in storage, the proposed raise in the assessment of the Midwest Re- fining company being in the amount of $5,140,517.000, and that of the Sinclair Crude Ot] Purchasing com- pany in the amount of $850,000.00. While the records clearly indicate that under date of June 23, 1924, both of these companies made for- mai written protest against the raise in assessment as affecting crude oil in storage, the record is silent as to any action taken by the board of county commissioners in connection with this matter, Under date of December 3, 1924, the following resolution was adopt- ed by the commissioners absolving Lyle BE. Jay from all responsibility in connection with fallure to place such crude oll in storage on the as- “State of Wyoming County of Natrona: NOTICE This is to certify that Lyle B. Jay, county assessor, in and for the County of Natrona, State of Wyoming, is {n no way to blame for the omission from the tax rajis the raise on crude oll against the Midwest Refining company. This raise was not made in con- formity with the assessment laws, and was not acted upon by the board of equalization at the time set by law for such hearings. Nor had any definite action been ta- ken in the matter at the time the 1924 valuation was submitted to the state board and was acted up- on after the state board of equal- ization had certified the value of the county and state levy. G. T. Morgan, Chairman, County Beard of Commissioners. T. A. Hall, Member, County Board of Commissioners. Witness: * R. C. VanPenbers December 3, 1924." It sour understanding that all of the ofl companies operating in Na- trano county joined with the Mid- west and Sinclair companies in mak- ing protest against such assessment, although, as a matter of fact, no at- tempt was ever made, as far as we were able to determine, to assess treasurer on demand of the state examiner, It will be observed that the only fees and fines accounted for from March, 1924, to the close of year total $1,736, which Wag remitted during March and April, 1924. On e 5, 1924, the county treasurer drew check No. 678 in favor of the board of county com missioners in the amount of $300. This check bears the endorsement of $ Morgan, J, E. Scott and T. A. 1, and the proceeds were used to pay the balance of $260 due on note dated May 9, 1922, executed by Henry I, Brennan and J, E. Scott to the Nationa] Bank of Com. merce at Casper, Wyoming, the balancé of $60 being returned to the county treasurer, for wheth she issued her receipt No. 5486 under date of June 7, 1924. In connection with this transac- the tion we understand information was given the county treasurer to the effect that the remittance of Judge Brennan of April, 1924, in thé amount of $300 was made in error, and that he was entitled to have retained $250 salary from this amount and should have turned over to the county treasurer only $50. If this were the case, regular procedure would reqilre that Judge Brennan file a claim with the county for refund of the amount claimed to have been oyerpald.. We wero un- able to determine ‘any satisfactory explanation as fo why the check was drawn in favor of the board of county commissioners, or why the proceeds were used in the manner stated, and the transaction accord- ing to the record constitutes, in our opinion, a misappropriation of pub: Me funds. In a number of instances during 1924, payments were made to Justice Brennan for back salary and back rent with no proper identification of the periods covered so that it is tm- possible to verify the correctness of the payments. As ap example of such payments, we direct your at: tention to Voucher No. 13888 in the amount of $210, made in favor of Justice Brennan with notation as follows: ‘To services derived by, special request and services rendered at request of county at night—reas- onable estimate totals $210.00, Such service rendered in 1923." There is.no provision in the law, as far as we have been able to de- termine, for the allowance of extfa compensation to cover sessions of court held at night. Schedule No. 6 of Exhibit “D" de- tails the collections of Justice 8. H. Puntenny, as shown by the record, the remittances to the county treas- urer, salary and other allowances provided by law, and indicates an amount due from Justice Puntenny representing fees retained on salary allowed contrary to law in. the amount of $3,431.05. The same unsatisfactory condi- tions as to records prevailed in Jus- tice Puntenny’s court before referred to in the case of Justice Brennan, The salary of Justice of the Peace ©. C, MeNulty was kept within the statutory allowance during 1924— in fact, the total salary paid him during 1924 Was $62.50 leas than the maximum allowed by law. According to the remittances made any oi! companies on such property except the two above mentioned Justice of the Peace Courts. The records maintained by the City of Casper Justices of the Peace for the year, 1924, are so Incomplete and unsatisfactory that we found it impossible to verify collections from fines, forfeitures and fees. Immedi- ate steps should be taken to require the fnstallation of adequate records so that revenue from this source may be accurately verified. The state law of Wyoming pro- vider that all fines and fees collect- ed by justices of the peace shall be turned {n to the county treasurer for eredit to the county school fund. The following summary shows the fines, costs, and civil fees in Justice Courts palé to the county treasurer during the year, 1924: Justice Henry F, Brennan ~$2,0£4.2 Justice 8. H. Puntenny ..~ Justice George Blake .... Justice Edwin Barrett Justice C. C. McNulty .. Total payments covering 1924 collections ......-. .-$7,840.60 Payment by Justice Henry F, Brennan dufing 1924 covering 1923 collections $ 5,182.92 Miscellaneous Receipts paid County Treasurer ..,. 140.85 during --$13,114,.37 5 of Exhibit maintaining t during 1924 payments made con- trary to law and therefore due the county from Justice Brennan in the amount of $2,646.20, The fines and fees collected, as shown by this statement, are in accordance with the record, but the accounts have been kept {n such a careless manner that the record may net disclose all fines and fees actually collected dur ing the period Attention is here directed to reso lution passed by the board of county commissioners under date of April 5 1924, as follows: “Moved and secofded that Justices Henry Brennan and 8. H. Puntenny be put on salaries of $3,000 per year, to be paid out of the teen de rived from revenye from offices Carried.” Jn view of the statutory provision fixing the salary of the justices at 0.00 per year, it js our opinion hat the county commissioners a entirely without authority in tempting to raise the salaries of Justice Brennan and Puntenny from this amount to $3,000 per ri neither did they lave any po provide for paying the salary in creases from the revenue “derived from foes collected in the justice courts. This action being directly contrary to the provisions of the law specifichlly designating such fees ae payable to the county treas- urer for credit to the county school fund, Total 1924 Schedule fle the total cost of Justices Brennar and indicates Payments | serving of the néce ‘The itom of $6,169.77 fees collected by . representing Justice Brennan from January 1, 1 1, 1924, was paid to February | to the count 33, to the county treasurer by Justice MéNulty during 1924, his total col- lections from fines and fees during the year amounted to $25.00, Justice George Blake drew neither salary nor office expense from the county during 1924, but according to the record, he collected more fines and fees during 1924 than all other justices of the péace in the county combined. His total remittances to the county treasurer during 1924 aggregated $4,931.60. Collection of Delinquent Taxes. In our verification of expenditures for the year 1924 we found payments had been made by the county in conformity with certain contracts between the board of county commis- sionerg and Elizabeth MeDonald and H. M. Gunn, and between the board of county commissioners and H, ‘G. Cook and O. F. Steffen for the col- lection of delinquent taxes. The contract with Elizabeth McDonald and H, M. Gunn provides that all delinquent personal property taxes of Natrona county for the year shall be placed in their hands for collec- tion and that from the amounts col- lected they shall retain 10 per cent of the gross amount, and that they shall be appointed as special deputy sheriffs and deputy treasurers in order to properly qualify for the ary papers. would appear that their appoint- ment as deputy county treasurars would restrict them to the statutory salary 1 for guch deputies Payments ating $1,468.86 were made to MeDonald under the contract mentioned The contract between the county commissioners, as parties of the first part, and G. H. @ook and O, F. Steffen. as parties of the second part, granted the parties of the sec. ord part full power to collect by all lawfu! means all the delinquent taxes, both real and personal, ypon the tax rolls of Natrona eounty for the year 1922, and prior thereto. Tho compensation was fixed as an amount equa! to the penalty and in- terest as ‘stipulated by law on all collections made the previous month and in addition such mileage as they may have collected as a part of their expenses of collection. The contract also provides that after the parties of the second part shail have entered upon the perform. ance of the contract, any delinquent (axes for the year 1932 or prior years pald directly to the county treasurer or her deputies, shall be considered as having been paid to the parties of the second part and they shal! be allowed the same com pensation as though the taxpayers should have paid the tax directly to them, They were also given author: ity under the contract to hold tax sales of any property as a means of collecting the tax levied against it Both of the above mentioned con- tracts appear to be contrary to the provisions of the Wyoming state law which, in prescribing the duties of the county treasurer, provide as der, It reul Seution 1429. Collec of Taaes PAGE SEVEN —The county treasurer of each county shall be, by virtue of his office, collector of taxes therein, and shall perform such duties tn that regard a4 preseribed by law; and tge bond to be given by such treasurér, as above provided, ehall cover any or all violation or vidlq- tions of his duties as collector of taxes, and any or all failure or failurés on his Part to pay over to the proper person or persons any moneys by him recetred as eollec- tor of taxes, and any and al) fail- ure or failures of said treasur¢r to deliver to any person or per- sons authorized by law to receive the same, any books, papers other things appertaining to duties as collector of taxes, Under the contract with Cook and Steffen they were paid corinilssions on total collections of $7,432.67, as follows: Commissions on collections made by Cook and Steften_$1,534.65 Commissions on taxes col- lected for period Inter than provided by contract... Total commissions .. Add amount paid for prepar- ing delinquent tax Mast... 1,000.00 Total paid and Steffen . ~-$2,968.51 While the contract with Cook anc Steffen provided that the delinquent Ust should be furnished them by county, such Iiet was actual: available under thé provisions of Section 2859, Compiled Wyoming Statutes, 1920, and the payment of $1,000 for preparifg the list does not appear to come within the terms of the contract. At any rate, the chargé js, in our opinion, excess! as tho list consisted of 1,548 namos. or 29 pages, which represents a cost to tue county of $34.41 per page. In view of the statutory pro’ sions, both of the contracts appe to us to be illegal and void, and in our opinion the amounts pata under them constitute a misapproprietion of public funds and should be r¢ covered to the county, In connection with the delinguent taxes due from the Wyoming Ex- ploration company for the 1920 and 1921 wht alties and interes! amounted $1,074.35, although the tax was com- Promised by the commisstonérs on the recommendation of Comnilssion- er Morgan for a total payment of $350.00, Cook and Steffen were pald a commission of $327.00, making the net revenue to the county on $23.00. The county, however, hav- ing actually received the $250.00 in the compromise settlement was compelled under the law to distri- bute to the other tating funts $200.60, so that the county general fund instead of recelving anything whatever ftom the settlement, wat compelled to pay out through appor: tionments to other funds, §267 excess of the net amount céllécted. Clerk of the District Court. Owing to the lack of covipléte records in this office we found {t fm- possible to satisfactorily verify the receipts of this office. Our exam- ination disclosed, however, that un- earned fees amounting to $576.65 should be accounted for by the for mer clerk, Mrs. Schilling, to her suc cessor, determined as follows: Fees received dur- ing perlod ...... Foes earned during period .,..-..-.$5,0! (Cases filed during period) Less Fees Uunpaid 1,988.15 Cook $4,855.19 95 98.45 Net fees of period payable to county , treasurer As top.e Total amount due successor Amount of unearn ed civil fees ac counted for 1,856.40 1,270.08 Balance due suc - cessor $ 576,65 It has apparently been the custom in Natrona county for the clerk ef the court at the expiration of her official term to consider all cheek books, deposit siips, bank pass books and other records used by her in her official capacity as personal prop erty, and accordingly such records for the year, 1924 were apparently removed from the office by Mrs Hazel Conwell Schilling, and th were therefore not made avatlable for our examination. During the course of our audit the present clerk, Mabelle Fiedler made a demand upon Mrs. Schilling for such records, and. in reply Mre Schilling advised that they were turned over to her successo on January 6, 1926. In the report of the assistan state examiner, LeRoy Joyce, datoc January 6, 1998, the present eler! was advised that should any caser come to her attention where funds or fees collected during a pribr Period had not been turned over to her care, that she should call Mir fehilling who would make the ne cCessary adjustment. Before making an official roiéase the county commissioners should re quire im aM emses that outgoing of ficials account for all collections made during thetr encumbency in office, and they should be required to turn over all records used he them in thelr official capacity até the incoming officials should make a ist of all records and documents turned over to thom, giving officta! receipt therefor to their predecessors In office. Balance Sheet of County Hospital. This exhibit reflects the finatcia condition of the County General Hos- pital as at December 31, 1ot4, bid fixed investment in hospitel pro} orty aggregates $196,450.28, which in. eludes only expenditures made since January 1, 1924, plus a nominal val- uation of $1.00 for the hospital at the time it was turned over to the county by deed from the § of Wyoming. Current Mabiiitles exceed current by $1,829,232. Statement of Revenue and Expenee County General Hospltal—Exhiblt ‘®” We examined in detail all of the (Coninued on Page Blsven)