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CHAPTER XXII.

CONTROLLER.

I. Oath of office and bond of controller, and justification of bond.

2. Salary of controller.

3. Enumeration of duties and
powers of controller.

4. Supervision and control of ac-
counts, and audit of same.
5. Power to compel attendance of
witnesses and production of
books, and to administer
oaths.

6. Power to countersign warrants,
and to require production of
evidence.

7. Power with respect to appropriations by council.

8. Powers and duties with respect to contracts involving appropriation of money.

9. Power of controller to suggest plans to council for management to finance; verification of his report and matters relating thereto.

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The provisions of the Borough Code (o) as amended by the Act of July 6, 1917, P. L. 704, relating hereto are as follows:Section 1. This section as amended by the Act of July 6, 1917, P. L. 704, §21, reads as follows:

I.

Section 1. The borough controller shall, before entering upon the duties of his office, take and subscribe the oath prescribed by section one, article seven of the Constitution of this Commonwealth; and shall give bond to the borough with two or more sureties or with a surety company, to be approved by the council in such sum as they may by ordinance direct, conditioned for the

(0) Chapter VII, Article V, of the Act of May 14, 1915, P. L. 312, as amended by the Act of July 6, 1917, P. L. 704.

faithful discharge of his duties: Provided, That the amount of said bond shall be sufficient to adequately protect the borough from any illegal or unfaithful action by the controller. The cost of such bond shall be paid by the borough.

The borough controller may, at the instance of a taxpayer, and by rule upon him for that purpose, be compelled to justify his bond as to the amount thereof and the responsibility of the sureties, before the court of common pleas.

Section 2. This section as amended by the Act of July 6, 1917, P. L. 704, §22, reads as follows:

Section 2. In boroughs having a population of more than ten thousand, the salary of the controller shall not exceed one thousand dollars; in boroughs having a population of less than ten thousand, and not less than five thousand, the salary of the controller shall not exceed seven hundred and fifty dollars; in boroughs having a population of less than five thousand, and not less than two thousand five hundred, the salary of the controller shall not exceed five hundred dollars; in boroughs having a population of less than two thousand five hundred, the salary of the controller shall not exceed three hundred dollars.

Section 3. This section as amended by the Act of July 6, 1917, P. L. 704, §23, reads as follows:

Section 3. The borough controller shall superintend the fiscal concerns of the borough. He shall examine, audit, and settle all accounts whatsoever in which the borough is concerned either as debtor or creditor, where provisions for the settlement thereof is [are] made by law; and where no such provisions, or an insufficient provision, has been made, he shall examine such accounts and report to the borough council the facts relating thereto, with his opinion thereon.

The controller, in addition to the above audits, shall annually audit, settle, and adjust the accounts for the immediately preceding fiscal year in which the borough is concerned, and for any preceding fiscal year, of any officer which have not previously been audited, settled and adjusted. He shall finish said audit, settlement, and adjustment, and file in the office of the prothonotary of the county in which such borough may be situated a report thereof, within sixty days after the beginning of the current fiscal year, setting forth an itemized statement of the charges against, and credits of, said officers, and any balance or surcharge against them. The amount of any balance or shortage, or of any expendi

ture of a kind, or made in a manner, prohibited or not authorized by statute, or which causes a financial loss to the borough, shall be a surcharge against any officer against whom such balance or shortage shall appear, or who by vote, act, or neglect has made, approved, or permitted such expenditure. Any balance or surcharge against any such officer shall be entered by the prothonotary as a judgment against him, unless he shall appeal from such report as hereinafter provided.

Section 4. The borough controller shall have supervision and control of the accounts of all departments, bureaus, and officers of the borough, authorized to collect, receive or disburse the public moneys, or who are charged with the management or custody thereof. He shall audit their respective accounts, and may at any time require from any of them a statement in writing of any moneys or property of the borough in their hands, or under their control; and he shall, immediately upon the discovery of any default, irregularity, or delinquency, report the same to the borough council. He shall also audit and report upon the account of any such officer upon the death, resignation, removal, or expiration of the term of the said officer.

Section 5. This section as amended by the Act of July 6, 1917, P. L. 704, §24, reads as follows:

Section 5. In the making of any audit, settlement, and in the authentication of any account or claim or demand against the borough, the controller of any borough shall have the same power and authority to obtain the attendance before him of parties and witnesses, and the production of books and papers, and to administer oaths and affirmations, as are given by law to county and township auditors. All persons guilty of swearing or affirming falsely before him shall be liable to the penalty for perjury.

Section 6. The borough controller shall countersign all warrants upon the borough treasurer, the form thereof to be prescribed by council, but no warrant shall be countersigned unless there is money in the treasury to pay the same. Whenever a warrant on the treasurer shall be presented to the controller to be countersigned, the person presenting the same shall, if the controller require, produce evidence :

1. That the amount expressed in the warrant is due to the person in whose favor it is drawn.

2. That the supplies or service, for payment of which the war

rant is drawn, have been furnished or performed according to law and the terms of the contract.

Section 7. The borough controller shall not permit any appropriation made by the council to be overdrawn. Whenever an appropriation is exhausted, the object of which is not complete, he shall immediately report the fact to the council, and accompany such report with a statement of the moneys which have been drawn on such appropriation and the particular purpose for which they are drawn.

Section 8. Every contract involving appropriation of money shall designate the item of appropriation on which it is founded, and the estimated amount of the expenditure thereunder shall be charged against such item, and so certified by the borough controller on the contract before it shall take effect as a contract, and the payment required by such contract shall be made from the fund appropriated therefor. If the controller shall certify any contract in excess of the appropriation made therefor, the borough shall not be liable for such excess, but the controller and his sureties shall be liable for the same, which may be recovered in an action at law by the contracting party aggrieved. It shall be the duty of the controller to certify contracts for the payment of which sufficient appropriations have been made.

Section 9. The borough controller shall, as often as he may deem expedient, or the council shall direct, suggest plans to the council for the management and improvement of the borough finances; and he shall make a report verified, by oath or affirmation, to the council at the first stated meeting in January in each year, of the public accounts of the borough, and of the trusts in its care, exhibiting all the expenditures thereof, respectively; the sources from which the revenue and funds are derived and the manner in which the same have been disbursed. Each account shall be accompanied by a detailed statement of the several appropriations made by councils, the amount drawn on each appropriation, and the balance standing to the debit or credit of such appropriation. The report shall be published at the expense of the borough, once a week for two weeks, in a newspaper circulating generally in the borough.

Section 10. The borough controller shall keep a regular set of books, in which shall be opened and kept as many accounts, under appropriate titles, as may be necessary to show separately and distinctly all the estates and property, whatsoever, real and per

sonal vested in the borough, all trusts in the care of the same, all debts due and owing the borough, all receipts and expenditures of the various departments of the borough government, and all appropriations made by council, and the sums under the same, respectively.

Section II. The foregoing provisions of this article shall not become operative or effective in any borough not having a controller, until the council shall by ordinance accept the provisions of this article. When any borough accepts the provisions of this article, the court of quarter sessions upon petition of council shall appoint a controller to hold office until the first Monday in January next succeeding the next municipal election, at which a controller may be elected under the provisions of this act.

Section 12. In all boroughs accepting the provisions of this article as provided in the preceding section, the borough auditors then in office shall continue to hold their office until the first day of January succeeding the election of a borough controller, after which date the office of borough auditor is abolished.

The following sections were added to chapter 7, Art. 5, by the Act of July 6, 1917, P. L. 704, §25.

Section 13. That it shall be lawful for the borough, or any taxpayer thereof on its behalf, or any officer against whom any sum shall be charged in the report of audit as filed in the office of the prothonotary, to appeal therefrom to the court of common pleas, within thirty days after the same shall be filed in the prothonotary's office. The appeal shall be filed to the same number and term in which the report has been filed. If the appellant is a taxpayer, or any officer charged as aforesaid, he shall file a bond, with one or more sufficient sureties, conditioned to pay all costs thereafter accruing in case a decision more favorable to the party on whose behalf the appeal shall be taken than that contained in the report of audit shall not be obtained.

Section 14. In case any appeal shall be taken, as aforesaid, the same may be placed upon the argument list of said court by either party. Testimony and evidence as to the accounts of any such officer may be taken before the said court, or by depositions as the court may direct, in the course of which the said accounts may be investigated de novo; and the burden shall be upon each officer, whose accounts are involved in the appeal, of establishing, by evidence from original sources, his right to credits claimed by him; but the opposing party in such appeal may use any facts, figures,

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