Massachusetts General Laws ch. 44 sec. 43 – Accounting reports; returns; forms
Section 43. The director shall annually require the auditor or other accounting officer of each city and town to submit schedules to provide for uniform returns giving detailed statements of all receipts classified by sources, and all payments classified by objects, for its last fiscal year; a statement of the public debt showing the purpose for which each item of the debt was created and the provision made for the payment thereof; and a statement of assets and liabilities at the close of the fiscal year. The director may prescribe standard forms intended to promote the systematic accounting of financial transactions and the publication of the same in the city and town reports. The director shall collect from the proper local authorities such other information pertaining to municipal affairs as in the director’s judgment may be of public interest. All auditors, accounting officers and other officials and custodians of public money of cities and towns shall properly complete and promptly return all schedules required of them to the director. If a city or town fails, within 60 days after a request has been made by the director, to furnish the information to be collected under this section, the director may obtain the information in accordance with section 41.
Terms Used In Massachusetts General Laws ch. 44 sec. 43
- Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
- Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
- Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
- Public debt: Cumulative amounts borrowed by the Treasury Department or the Federal Financing Bank from the public or from another fund or account. The public debt does not include agency debt (amounts borrowed by other agencies of the Federal Government). The total public debt is subject to a statutory limit.