48 STATION BULLETIN 346 



Sheriffs and jailers are required to keep an account of all money 

 received by them for the county. Such accounts must be submitted 

 to the commissioners before the sheriffs receive their salaries. Medi- 

 cal referees must render an account of their expenses and fees to the 

 county solicitor who audits and approves them before the accounts 

 can be paid by the treasurer. The solicitor submits his expense ac- 

 count to a justice of the superior court for approval before payment 

 by the treasurer. 



Two auditors are appointed annually by the superior court. Once 

 every three months they audit the accounts of the county commission- 

 ers, superintendent of the county farm, and county treasurer. This 

 IS a postaudit. Ec|ually as often the auditors are required to audit un- 

 paid bills and bills for commissioners' services and expenses. This 

 part of their work is a matter of preaudit. Other preauditing includes 

 the examination of the solicitor's expenses by the superior court, the 

 examination of the bills of the sheriff and jailer by the commissioners, 

 and the review of the expenses of the medical referees by the solici- 

 tors. 



The annual reports of county offfcers are combined and published 

 in a manner similar to town reports. 



The sheriff, the jailer, the physician, the clerk of court, the solicitor, 

 the treasurer, the county commissioners and the superintendent of 

 the county farm of each county shall make up their several reports 

 to the close of December thirty-first, annually, and the same shall 

 be printed together in pamphlet form before or during the month of 

 February following. 38 



The commissioners must forward one copy of the county report to 

 the town clerk of each town in the county, and 20 copies to the secre- 

 tary of state. The secretary of state has these reports bound in 20 

 volumes, each of which contains the reports of all 10 counties. One 

 volume is sent to each county and the retnainder are deposited in the 

 state library. 



Furthermore, county commissioners are required to report an- 

 nually to the state tax commission a statement of all receipts and pay- 

 ments and a statement of the financial condition of the county on 

 December 31. The form for this report is prescribed and furnished 

 by the tax commission. 



THE TAX SYSTEM 



Three-fourths of the revenue for local units of government in New 

 Hampshire is a matter of property taxation. This leaves only one- 

 fourth of the revenue from all other sources, most of which takes the 

 form of taxes collected locally or collected by the state and returned 

 to towns on some basis of apportionment." The administration of 

 the tax system is largely a function of the town, although the state 

 tax commission is responsible for general supervision. It should be 

 remembered that taxes levied within the respective towns include 

 school, precinct, and county taxes as well as town taxes. 



»« Revised Laws, 1941. Chapter 50, Section 1. 



