✨ Financial Statement and Audit Report
AN APPROXIMATE STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES,
31st August, 1869.
LIABILITIES.
| Description | £ | s. | d. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outstanding Accounts, various Departments | 5,000 | 0 | 0 |
| Salaries (two months) | 4,500 | 0 | 0 |
| Balance due to Bank of New Zealand | 1,686 | 19 | 8 |
| Subsidies to Hospitals | 700 | 0 | 0 |
| Cheques charged to account, unpresented at Bank | 1,911 | 0 | 0 |
| Division of Land Fund | 550 | 0 | 0 |
| Borough Council, on account of River Protective Works | 513 | 9 | 7 |
| Total | 14,861 | 9 | 3 |
ASSETS.
| Description | £ | s. | d. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consolidated Fund, July, due from Wellington—say | 1,250 | 0 | 0 |
| August, due from Wellington—say | 1,500 | 0 | 0 |
| Construction of Telegraph to Bealey (half) | 1,700 | 0 | 0 |
| Survey of Native Reserves—say | 1,500 | 0 | 0 |
| Sundry Receivers, at Branch Banks | 800 | 0 | 0 |
| Nelson Government, on account of prisoners | 150 | 0 | 0 |
| Gazette Fees | 100 | 0 | 0 |
| Renewal of Mining Leases | 150 | 0 | 0 |
| Due on account of Mining Surveys | 200 | 0 | 0 |
| Policy of Assurance, late County Treasurer | 2,000 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 9,350 | 0 | 0 |
Deficiency | £5,511 | 9 | 3 |
Memo.—Amount, as readjustment, Canterbury Debt—say £10,000.
As the revenue of the County is gradually decreasing every year, and is likely to do so, unless from some unforeseen circumstances, such as a new rush, the greatest economy will have to be adopted in future, in order to pay off these liabilities and proposed public works.
With regard to the classification of the expenditure, as made by the late County Treasurer, I may state that it has been generally correctly made, and that, so far as the accounts themselves are concerned, no defalcations would appear. It was only by comparing the bank pass-book with the cash-book that the errors could be discovered, and hence the cause of the late Treasurer being unable to make out a balance-sheet.
The Disbursement Vouchers I find very incomplete, being entirely unsupported (when they were laid before me) by the proper authorities and sub-vouchers, which must have been purposely removed or destroyed by the late County Treasurer. As it is probable that such irregularities will never be allowed to occur again, it is almost unnecessary for me to allude to them; but I feel it my duty to inform you that a great deal of extra trouble and inconvenience would have been saved had more supervision been exercised over the late County Treasurer during the last eight months.
I find that, since the month of October, 1868, his cash-book has not been once balanced, and this should have been done monthly; that no one but himself ever saw the bank pass-book. I suppose that in the whole of the Australasian colonies no Treasury Officer of any Government was allowed to go on for such a length of time without his accounts being checked. The only person who had any power to examine the accounts of the late Treasurer was yourself, and you should have satisfied yourself, on taking office, that the finances of the County were in a sound condition, and that the accounts were being correctly kept; more especially as the last "County of Westland Act" came into force on the 1st January, 1869, when new Regulations respecting the receipt or payment of public money were issued.
Next Page →
Westland Provincial Gazette 1869, No 23
✨ LLM interpretation of page content
💰
Auditor's Report on County Council Accounts
(continued from previous page)
💰 Finance & Revenue18 September 1869
Audit, County Council, Revenue, Receipts, Expenditure, Westland
💰 Approximate Statement of Assets and Liabilities
💰 Finance & Revenue31 August 1869
Assets, Liabilities, Financial Statement, County Council