City comptroller.

Duties of comptroller.

Supervision other officers.

of

comptroller, the city treasurer and the city collector, and all such clerks and assistants, including an auditor, as the common council may by ordinance, see fit to prescribe and establish.

§ 2. The said treasury department shall have control of all the fiscal concerns of the said corporation, except as herein otherwise provided, and shall prescribe the forms of keeping and rendering all city accounts whatever; and all accounts rendered to or kept in the several departments of the city government shall be subject to the revision and inspection of the officers of this department.

§ 3. There shall be appointed by the mayor, with the advice and consent of the common council, some discreet and able accountant to be styled the city comptroller, who shall be chief of said treasury department, and hold his office until removed or a successor be appointed, who shall receive such compensation for his services as may be established by law, and who shall be removable at all times at the pleasure of the mayor with the concurrence of the common council, and he shall give bonds with securities to the amount of not less than one hundred thousand dollars, and the amount of his bond may be increased to such sum as may be fixed by the common council; said bond to be approved by the common council, and filed in the city clerk's office and entered on record. He shall also be sworn the same as other officers to the faithful discharge of the duties of his office.

$ 4. The comptroller shall open and keep in a neat, methodical manner, a complete set of books, under the direction of the mayor and finance committee of the common council, wherein shall be stated, among other things, the appropriations of the year for each distinct object and branch of expenditure, and also the receipts from each and every source of revenue so far as he can ascertain the same. Said books and all papers, vouchers, contracts, bonds, receipts and other things kept in said office shall be subject to the examination of the mayor, the members of the common council, or any committee or committees thereof.

$ 5. The comptroller shall be charged with, and shall exercise a general supervision over, all the officers of the city charged in any manner with the receipt, collection or disbursement of the city revenues, and the collection and return of such revenues into the city treasury. He shall be the fiscal agent of said city, and as such shall have charge of all deeds, mortgages, contracts, judgments, notes, bonds, debts, choses in action, belonging to said city, except such as are confided by this act to the custody of the board of public works or city clerk, and shall possess and carefully preserve all assessment and tax warrants, except warrants for the collection of water rents or assessments, and the returns thereof made by any collector or receiver of taxes and

assessments, and all leases of markets, wharfing privileges and other public property of said city. He shall also have supervision over the city debts, contracts, bonds, obligations, loans and liabilities of the city, the payment of interest, and over all the property of the city, and the sale or the disposition thereof; over all legal or other proceedings in which the interests of the city are involved, and with the approval of the mayor to institute or discontinue such proceedings, and to employ additional counsel in special cases where he thinks the city interests require it, and generally in subordination to the mayor and common council, to exercise supervision over all such interests of said city as in any manner may concern or relate to the city finances, revenues and property.

oaths.

$6. The comptroller shall have power to examine all ac- Administering of counts, claims and demands for or against the city; and no money shall be drawn from the treasury, or paid by the city to any person, except as herein otherwise provided, unless the balance due or payable be first settled and adjusted by the said comptroller; and for the purpose of ascertaining the true state of any balance or balances so due, he shall have and he is hereby clothed with full power and authority to administer an oath or oaths to the claimant or claimants, or any other person or persons whom he may think proper to examine as to any fact, matter or thing concerning the correctness of any account, claim or demand presented, and the person so sworn shall, if he swear falsely, be deemed guilty of willful and corrupt perjury, and be subject to punishment accordingly, the same as in all other cases.

warrants.

§ 7. All money found to be due and payable by the Comptroller's comptroller to any person, shall be drawn for by said comptroller by warrant on the treasurer, which shall be countersigned by the mayor, stating therein the particular fund or appropriation to which the same is chargeable and the person to whom payable; but if said comptroller should, upon any examination of any account as aforesaid, still doubt as to its correctness, he shall submit the same to the mayor and finance committee for their decision thereon, which decision shall be binding upon the city and filed among his other vouchers in the comptroller's office; and no money shall be drawn from the treasury, except on the warrant of the comptroller, drawn as aforesaid.

rants.

8. It shall be the duty of said comptroller as nearly as Collector's warmay be, to charge all officers in the receipt of revenues or moneys of the city, with the whole amount from time to time of such receipts; and he shall countersign all tax and assessment warrants for the collection of revenue, issued under any ordinance or law of the city by virtue of which money is receivable or to be received or paid into the city treasury, except warrants for the collection of water rents or assessments, charging the proper officer the amount col

Annual report.

Annual estimate of expenses.

lectable thereon. He shall also require of all officers in receipt of city moneys that they shall submit reports thereof, with vouchers and receipts of payment therefor, into the city treasury weekly or monthly, or as often as he shall see fit to require the same by any regulation which he may adopt; and if any such officer shall neglect to make an adjustment of his accounts when so required as aforesaid, and to pay over such moneys so received, it shall then be the duty of the said comptroller to issue a notice in writing, directed to such officer and his securities, requiring him or them within ten days to make settlement of his said accounts with the comptroller, and to pay over the balance of moneys found to be due and in his hands, belonging to said city, according to the books of said comptroller; and in case of the refusal or neglect of such officer to adjust his said accounts, or pay over said balance to the treasury as required, it shall then be the duty of the said comptroller to make report of the delinquency of such officer to the mayor, who shall at once suspend him from office; and the mayor shall thereupon proceed forthwith to institute the necessary proceedings for the removal of such officer; and he is hereby authorized, in case of such suspension, to appoint, with the concurrence of the common council, some other person to exercise the functions of said office while such proceedings are pending.

89. The comptroller shall make out an annual statement for publication, in the month of April in each year, before the annual election, giving a full and detailed statement of all the receipts and expenditures during the year ending the first day of said month. The said statement shall also detail the liabilities and resources of said city, the condition of all unexpended appropriations and contracts unfulfilled, and the balances of money then remaining in the treasury, with all sums due and outstanding; the names of all persons who may have become defaulters to the city, and the amount in their hands unaccounted for, and all other things necessary to exhibit the true financial condition of the city; which statement, when examined and approved by the finance committee, shall be published by him in the corporation newspaper.

§ 10. The said comptroller shall, also, on or before the fifteenth day of May in each year, before the annual appropriations are made by the common council, submit to the same a report of the estimates necessary, as nearly as may be, to defray the expenses of the city government during the current fiscal year, commencing on the first day of April; he shall, in said report, class the different objects and branches of said city expenditure, giving, as nearly as may be, the amount required for each; and for this purpose he is authorized to require of all city officers and heads of departments, their statements of the condition and expense of

their respective departments and offices, with any proposed improvement and the probable expense thereof, of contracts already made and unfinished, and the amount of any unexpended appropriations of the preceding year. He shall also, in such report, show the aggregate income of the preceding fiscal year from all sources; the amount of liabilities outstanding upon which interest is to be paid, and of bonds and city debts payable during year, when due, and where payable, so that the common council may fully understand the money exigencies and demands of the city for the current

year.

ment.

§ 11. In addition to the other duties of the comptroller Monthly of said city, it is hereby made his duty on or before the tenth day of each and every month, to make out a monthly statement, giving a full and detailed statement of all moneys received and from what sources, and on what account received, and of all moneys ordered to be paid, or drawn for by warrant by him, and on what account the same have been paid, for the month preceding that in which such statement is made, and the said comptroller shall cause the said monthly statement to be published in the corporation newspaper of said city, before the fifteenth day of each month, and shall deliver a true copy of such statement to the said common council at their next meeting.

DUTIES OF THE TREASURER.

§ 12. The city treasurer shall receive all moneys belonging to the city, and shall keep his office in some place to be designated by the common council, appropriated to the keeping of such office, in the treasury department. He shall keep his books and accounts in such manner as the city comptroller or common council may prescribe, and such books and accounts shall be always subject to the inspection of said comptroller and the finance committee.

rants.

§ 13. All warrants drawn upon the treasurer must be Paying of signed by the comptroller and countersigned by the mayor, stating therein the particular fund or appropriation to which the same is chargeable, and the person to whom payable, and no money shall be otherwise paid than upon such warrants so drawn.

§ 14. He shall keep a separate account of each fund or appropriation, and the debits and credits belonging thereto.

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815. He shall give every person paying money into the Duplicate receipt city treasury a duplicate receipt therefor, specifying the date of payment, upon what account paid; and he shall also file copies of such receipts with the city comptroller at the date of his monthly reports.

ment.

§ 16. The treasurer shall, at the end of each and every Monthly month, and oftener if required, render an account to the comptroller, under oath, showing the state of the treasury at the date of such account, and the balance of moneys in the

state

Custody of moneys.

Monthly report

expenditures.

treasury. He shall also accompany such account with a statement of all moneys received into the treasury, and on what account, together with all warrants redeemed and paid by him, which said warrants, with any and all other vouchers held by him, shall be delivered over to the comptroller, and filed with his said account in the comptroller's office upon every day of such settlement. He shall return all warrants paid by him stamped or marked "paid ;" and shall give a list of said warrants, stating the number and amount of each.

17. The treasurer may be required to keep all moneys in his hands belonging to the city, in such place or places of deposit as the common council may by ordinance provide, order, establish or direct. Such moneys shall be kept distinct and separate from his own moneys; and he is hereby expressly prohibited from using, either directly or indirectly, the corporation money or warrants in his custody and keeping, for his own use and benefit, or that of any other person or persons whomsoever; and any violation of this provision shall subject him to immediate removal from office by the mayor, with the concurrence of the common council, who are hereby authorized to declare said office vacant; and the mayor, in case of said removal, shall nominate a successor, who shall be appointed to said office upon the confirmation of the said common council, and hold his office for the remainder of the unexpired term of such officer so removed.

18. The treasurer shall also report to the common of receipts and council annually, in the month of April, before the election, and oftener if required, a full and detailed account of ail receipts and expenditures during the preceding fiscal year, and the state of the treasury. He shall also keep a register of all warrants redeemed and paid during the year, describing such warrants, their date, amount, number, the fund from which paid, and persons to whom paid, specifying also the time of payment; and all such warrants shall be examined at the time of the making such annual report to the common council by the finance committee, who shall examine and compare the same with the books of the comptroller, and report discrepancies, if any, to the common council.

§ 19. All moneys received on any special assessment shall be held by the treasurer as a special fund, to be applied to the payment of the improvement for which the assessment was made; and said money shall be used for no other purpose whatever.

Treasurer's bond $ 20. The treasurer shall give bond with sureties to the amount of not less than two hundred thousand dollars, and the amount of his bond may be increased to such sum as may be fixed by the common council, said bond to be ap. proved by the common council, and filed in the clerk's office, and entered on record. He shall also be sworn the same as