DOCUMENT No. 23. BOARD OF ALDERMEN, FEBRUARY 23d, 1854. The following report of the Finance Committee, in favor of an ordinance organizing the Auditing Bureau in the Finance Department, was received, laid on the table, and directed to be printed. D. T. VALENTINE, Clerk. AN ORDINANCE AN TO CARRY INTO EFFECT THE THIRTEENTH SEction of NEW YORK," PASSED APRIL 12, 1853, CREATING A BU The Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the city of New York, in Common Council convened, do ordain as follows: SECTION 1-That Article III, Title 3d of the ordinance of 1849, entitled " of the Bureau in the Department of Finance," be amended, by adding a chapter at the end of said title 3, to be called chapter 4, and to be entitled the Bureau of the Auditor of Accounts," as follows: CHAPTER IV. THE BUREAU OF THE AUDITOR OF ACCOUNTS. § 1. This bureau, the chief officer of which shall be called" Auditor of Accounts," is charged with the duty of revising, auditing and settling fall accounts in which the city is concerned, as debtor or creditor; and he shall keep an account of each claim for or against the Corporation, and of the sums allowed upon each, and certify the same, with reasons therefor, to the Comptroller. § 2. He shall, once in ninety days, make out a list of the same, and his decision on each claim referred to in the preceding section, to accompany the report to the Common Council, which the Comptroller is required to make, with his final action thereon. 3. He shall prepare warrants on the treasury, as provided by sections 129 and 130, amended by an ordinance approved by the Mayor, May 30,1849; and, after obtaining the approval of the Comptroller to the audit of the claim, and his signature to the warrant, shall cause the same to be presented to the Mayor and clerk for their signatures respectively. § 4. There shall be two assistant auditors, who shall perform the duties prescribed by the 132d section, chapter 3, of the ordinance of 1849, in relation to the Finance Department, and such other services as may be required of them, as assistant to the auditor of accounts. The Finance Committee have examined the ordinance hereto annexed, and respectfully REPORT: That the ordinance is for the organization of the Auditing Bureau, under the provisions of the amended charter of 1853, in the Finance Department, and recommend the adoption of the same. DOCUMENT No. 24. BOARD OF ALDERMEN, FEBRUARY 23, 1854. The following communication from the Comptroller, in relation to encroachments on the real estate at Catharine ferry, was received, laid on the table, and directed to be printed. D. T. VALENTINE, Clerk. FINANCE DEPARTMENT, COMPTROLLER'S OFFICE, To the Common Council: In examining into the condition of the piers and slips, for the purpose of leasing and deriving revenue from them, the Comptroller has been impressed with the great injustice which he conceives has been done to the city, by some of those who have obtained ferry grants. Maps have been prepared for the purpose of illustrating two of these cases, viz: the Catharine street ferry grant, and the lease of the Roosevelt street ferry. The main object of this communication is to call the attention of the Common Council to a succession of most extraordinary proceedings in regard to the Catharine street ferry. The history of the Roosevelt street ferry, so far as is known, is brief. Under a grant of one hundred feet of bulkhead, the lessees use up, so far as the interests of the 1 |
