An Act making Provision for the Appointment of an H1 [21st February, 1913.] IS MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows: Short Title. 1. This Act may be cited as the "Audit Act." Interpretation. Short title. public revenue," "revenue." 2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,"Public moneys," "public revenue," or "revenue" includes and Public moneys." applies to all revenue and moneys of the Province, whether such moneys belong to and are the property of the Province, or are collected by officers of the Province to be held by the Government in trust: "Certified" includes "examined" and "certified and found correct": Certified." "Sub-Accountant" means any officer receiving or expending "Sub-Accountant." public moneys and accounting for same to or through any Minister or officer of any department. "Bank means any chartered bank as may be determined by the Minister of Finance and Agriculture: "Minister of Finance" means the Minister of Finance and Agriculture. Treasury Board. 3. There shall be a Board, to be called the "Treasury Board," "Treasury Board." consisting of the Minister of Finance and any three members of the Executive Council to be nominated from time to time by the Lieutenant-Governor in Council. 4. The Treasury Board shall act as a committee of the Executive Council in all matters relating to finance, revenue, expenditure, or Public Accounts which are referred to it by the Council, or to which the Board thinks it necessary to call the attention of the Council, and shall have power to require from any public department, officer, civil servant, or other person any account, return, statement, document, or information which the Board deems requisite for the due performance of its duties. 5. The Minister of Finance shall be Chairman of the Treasury Board, and the Deputy Minister of Finance shall be ex officio Secretary, through whom the Board shall communicate with any public department, officer, or other person. 6. The plan of account-books and accounts shall be adapted to the requirements of each department or branch of the public service, in order to exhibit in a convenient form the whole of the receipts and expenditure in respect of such department, and shall be designed under the superintendence of the Treasury Board. The Lieutenant-Governor in Council, on report from the Treasury Board, shall prescribe from time to time the manner in which each department of the public service shall keep its accounts. 7. The Treasury Board may direct any officer employed in collecting, managing, or accounting for any branch of revenue to keep any books or accounts which the Board deems it advisable to direct to be kept for the purpose of obtaining and furnishing statistical information respecting the trade or commerce of British Columbia, the public works thereof, or other matters of public interest. Auditor-General and his Office. 8. The Lieutenant-Governor in Council may, for the more complete examination of the Public Accounts of British Columbia and the reporting thereon to the Legislative Assembly, appoint an officer under the Great Seal of the Province, to be called the "AuditorGeneral of British Columbia," and such officer shall be paid out of the consolidated revenue of British Columbia a salary of three thousand four hundred and fifty dollars per annum, with an annual increase of two hundred and fifty dollars until a maximum salary of five thousand dollars is reached. 9. The Auditor-General shall hold office during good behaviour, but shall be removable by the Lieutenant-Governor on the Address of the Legislative Assembly. 10. The Auditor-General shall be subject to the provisions of any Civil Service Superannuation Act that may hereafter be enacted, except as regards his tenure of office. clerks. 11. The Lieutenant-Governor in Council shall from time to time Appointment of appoint the officers, clerks, and other persons in the office of the Auditor-General, and may regulate the salaries of the respective grades or classes into which the said officers, clerks, and other persons shall be divided, subject, however, to the provisions of the "Civil Service Act." office. 12. The Auditor-General may from time to time make orders and Rules for conduct of rules for the conduct of internal business of his office, and prescribe regulations and forms for the guidance of the officers, SubAccountants, and clerks in making up and returning their periodical accounts for examination: Provided that such rules, regulations, and forms shall be approved by the Treasury Board before enforcing same. 13. In case of illness or absence of the Auditor-General or of a Acting AuditorGeneral. vacancy in the office, the Lieutenant-Governor in Council may appoint some other official in the public service to act as AuditorGeneral pro tempore, and the officer so appointed shall during such absence or vacancy possess the powers and perform the duties of the Auditor-General. redeemed deben 14. The Auditor-General and Deputy Minister of Finance shall Cancellation of examine and cancel debentures or other Provincial securities repre- tures. senting any debt of British Columbia which have been redeemed. Auditor-General. 15. The Auditor-General shall examine, check, and audit all General duties of accounts of the receipts and expenditure of public moneys, all books and accounts of any employee of the Provincial Government who receives money on deposit or otherwise, and for which the Province. is liable, and all bonds and contracts made by or with any person on behalf of the Government. Minister. 16. In any case in which the Auditor-General deems it necessary Report through to make a report for the information of the Lieutenant-Governor in Council, such report shall be made through the Minister of Finance. Public Moneys, how dealt with. accounting. 17. The Treasury Board may from time to time appoint the times Time and mode of and mode in which any officer or person employed in the collection or management of or the accounting for any part of the revenue shall account for and pay over the public moneys which come into his hands. collections by 18. The Deputy Minister of Finance shall keep a daily record in Daily record of the Treasury cash-book of all public moneys received by him, and Deputy Minister. shall issue official receipts therefor. Such daily collections shall be deposited in the bank on the morning of the following day to the credit of the Provincial Government. Daily record of collections by outside officers. Lieut.-Governor's warrant. Advances to be made on certificate 19. Every Sub-Accountant or officer charged with the collection of revenue and receiving money for the Crown shall, where his office is distant from the Treasury Department, keep a daily record in the Government cash-book of all public moneys received by him. Such daily collections shall be deposited by him on the morning of the following day in a bank to the credit of the Government account operated by him. All books, papers, and the current account at the bank of every such Sub-Accountant or officer shall at any time be open for inspection and audit of any person authorized by the Auditor-General to inspect and audit the same. Expenditure of Moneys granted by the Legislature. 20. When any sum of money has been granted to His Majesty by the Legislative Assembly to defray expenses for any specified public service, the Lieutenant-Governor may from time to time, under his sign-manual, countersigned by a member of the Treasury Board, authorize and require the Minister of Finance to issue out of the moneys in his hands appropriated for defraying expenses of such service the sums required from time to time to defray such expenses, not exceeding the amount of the sum so granted. 21. When any sum of money has been granted to His Majesty by of Auditor-General. the Legislative Assembly to defray any expenses for any specified public service, and the Lieutenant-Governor has issued his warrant authorizing the payment of the sum or such sums as are required to defray such expenses, the Minister of Finance may from time to time, on the application and certificate of the Auditor-General, cause advances to be made to any deputy head, Sub-Accountant, officer, clerk, or other person connected with the several departments or services charged with the expenditures of moneys so authorized. All such warrants issued by the Lieutenant-Governor shall be in the form of Schedule C of chapter 202 of the "Revised Statutes of British Columbia, 1911." No such advance shall be made to any officer or other person as aforesaid in excess of any appropriation authorized by Act of the Legislature. Advance not to exceed appropriation. Advances for travelling expenses, etc. 22. On the application of any Minister or his deputy, the Minister of Finance may make advances to any Minister, deputy, SubAccountant, officer, or other person to meet disbursements for travelling expenses or other unforeseen contingency. Such advances shall be by warrant authorized by the Lieutenant-Governor and certified to by the Auditor-General, and shall be in the form of Schedule B of chapter 202 of the "Revised Statutes of British Columbia, 1911." A statement of all such advances shall be made monthly in triplicate by the Deputy Minister of Finance. The original of such statement shall be forwarded to the Treasury Board for its information, the duplicate to the Auditor-General, and the triplicate shall be retained in the Treasury Office. Such statement shall also include all outstanding advances. It shall be the duty of the Deputy Minister of Finance to close all such advances within a reasonable time after being made, with vouchers duly certified to, or vouchers and money in settlement, from the officer or person to whom such advance is made. The Deputy Minister of Finance shall also include on such monthly statement a report, with an explanation of those advances which he is unable to close. audit. 23. Every Sub-Accountant, officer, clerk, or other person charged Sub-Accountant's with the expenditure of public moneys shall respectively audit the details of the accounts of the several services in the first instance, and be responsible for the correctness of the audit. ture ledger. 24. The Auditor-General shall keep a "Detailed Expenditure" Detailed expendiledger, in which shall be entered the supply votes comprised in the "Estimates of Expenditure" for the year, against which shall be charged all authorized expenditure out of the appropriations. The Auditor-General shall furnish to each department monthly a statement of the charges entered against the several appropriations belonging to such department, and such statement shall show the balances at the credit of the appropriations at the close of the month. Whenever an appropriation is exhausted, the Auditor- Exhausted approGeneral shall at once notify the department to which the appropriation belongs. The Auditor-General shall not sanction any further payments to be charged to such exhausted appropriation except as hereinafter provided. priation. issued without 25. The Auditor-General shall see that no cheque is issued for the No cheque to be payment of any public moneys for which there is no direct legislative authority of law. authority, or which is in excess of any portion of such appropriation as has been authorized by the Lieutenant-Governor. Auditor-General a 26. No cheque for public money shall be issued except upon the Certificate of certificate of the Auditor-General that there is legislative authority prerequisite to issuing cheque. for the expenditure, save only in the following cases:— Attorney-General. (a.) If upon application for any cheque the Auditor-General Except on opinion of of urgency. |