City Treasurer, Office of the

[Record group 95]
Agency home page.

Agency Function

The City Treasurer's Office manages the development and administration of the City's debt policies and those of its related agencies and coordinates the provision of financial analysis and support to the City and its related agencies. It also manages the City's cash resources to maximize the limited resources which are available to the municipal government to serve the citizens of Philadelphia.

Administrative Subunits

Deputy City Treasurer, Operations Deputy City Treasurer, Public Finance City Treasurer / Administrative Officer City Treasurer / Cash Investment Management City Treasurer / Accounting and Reporting City Treasurer / Fiscal Planning and Analysis City Treasurer / Public Finance

Agency History

This office was rather vaguely defined prior to the Revolution. Various Acts provided that its holder be appointed by the officers of the Corporation and by the City Assessors and Commissioners; this normally resulted in the Mayor or an alderman serving as Treasurer for greatly varying periods of time. While the Corporation was in suspension from 1776 to 1789 the County Treasurer served also as the City Treasurer. The Act of reincorporation of the latter date directed that the City Treasurer be appointed by City Councils for a term of one year. In 1807 there was added to his normal duties the supervision of the then-established Sinking Fund. At the consolidation of the City and County in 1854 the office was made directly elective for a term of two years (increased to three years in 1873 and to four in 1909) and was given the powers and duties of the abolished County Treasurer. In 1857 the supervision of the Sinking Fund was assigned to a board of Commissioners of the Sinking Fund. From 1854 to 1865 the Treasurer also sat as a member of the Board of Revision of Taxes, and in 1869 was designated Treasurer of the Board of City Trusts although he had performed similar functions earlier. The State Constitution of 1874 officially termed the Treasurer a County officer but left the organization of his office unchanged, as did the Bullitt Bill of 1885 and the City Charter of 1919. The City Charter of 1951 recommended that the elective status of the Treasurer be changed to an appointive one. Acting upon the recommendations of the Advisory Consolidation Commission, Council passed an ordinance, approved on 16 October 1953, which directed that the Treasurer be appointed by the Director of Finance, with the approval of the Mayor.

Archival Records

95.1 Annual Reports (1938, 1943, 1944, 1953-1967)

95.2 General Ledger (1800-1900; missing 1802-1808, 1859-1861, 1889-1897)

95.3 General Balances (1855-1856)

95.4 Cash Accounts (1802-1893; missing October 1804-July 1807, 1816-1819, 1880-1885, 1888, July-December 1891)

95.5 Day Book (1800, 1816-1829, 1854)

95.6 Quarterly Statements of Accounts Submitted to City Councils (1809 (2nd Quarter) - 1813 (3rd Quarter))

95.7 "Accounts Summary" (1802-1806)

95.8 Papers (1799-1811)

95.9 Receiving Teller's Settlements (1886)

95.10 Receipt Notices (1838-1876; missing February 1870 - June 1876)

95.11 Departmental Receipts Ledger (1886-1888)

95.12 Departmental Receipts Journal (1854-1857)

95.13 Receipts, Taxes and Water Rents (1806-1854; missing: September 1833-March 1843)

95.14 Reports to City Controller of Fees Received for Issuance of State Licenses (1887-1888)

95.15 Receipts Journal, Rentals of City Property (1806-1829; missing 1815-1818)

95.16 Rentals Ledger, City Property (1858-1890; missing 1865-1867)

95.17 Cash Book, Children at Norristown State Hospital (1929-1939)

95.18 Receipts, Check Stubs (1792 - 1835)

95.19 Account with Bank of Pennsylvania (1815-1816)

95.20 Daily Balances in City Depositories (1892-1895)

95.21 Appropriation Ledger (1812-1824)

95.22 Appropriation Journal (1845-1876)

95.23 Cash Payments Journal (1854)

95.24 Expenditures, Public Property (1839-1853)

95.25 Expenditures, City Stables (1834)

95.26 Loan Accounts Ledger (1842-1854)

95.27 Loan Interest Accounts (1847-1854)

95.28 Stock Ledger (1849-1866; missing 1854-1864)

95.29 Water Works Loan Interest Payments Order Stubs (1800-1805)

95.30 Loan Interest Payments Order Stubs (1819-1822)

95.31 Loan Interest Payments Journal (1858)

95.32 Loan Certificate Transfer Journal (1801-1834, 1866)

95.33 Loan Certificate Transfer Lists (1871, 1877-1878, 1888)

95.34 Stubs, Loan Certificate Redemptions (1831 - 1876)

95.35 Monthly Distributions, Loans to Sinking Fund (1877-1900; missing January 1883 - September 1887)

95.36 Classification of Loans Held by Commissioners of the Sinking Fund. (1914-1946)

95.37 Stock Distribution Ledger, Commissioners of the Sinking Fund. (1873-1900)

95.38 Ledger of Stock Distribution Through Commissioners of the Sinking Fund. (1850-1900)

95.39 Receipts Book, City Legacies and Trusts (1841-1887)

95.40 Cash Accounts, City Legacies and Trusts (1854 - 1895)

95.41 Ledger, City Legacies and Trusts (1854-1885)

95.42 Cash Accounts, Girard Trust (1854-1878)

95.43 Receipts, Notices, Girard Trust (1854-1870)

95.44 Check Stubs, Girard Trust (1852-1856)

95.45 Stubs, Notices of Bond Payments Due, Franklin Legacy (1812-1829)

95.46 Check Stubs, Franklin and Scott Legacies (1832-1854)

95.47 Accounts Ledger, Scott Legacy (1830-1870)

95.48 Day Book, Scott Legacy (1829-1869)

95.49 Account Ledger, Wills Hospital Trust (1831-1870)

95.50 Cash Accounts, Wills Hospital Trust (1831-1870)

95.51 Stock and Real Estate Acquisitions and Sales, Wills Hospital Trust (1831-1869)

95.52 Receipts Book, Wills Hospital Trust (1831-1854)

95.53 Check Stubs, Wills Hospital Trust (1832-1854)

95.54 Mandamus Ledger (1891-1929; missing 1898-1900, 1909-1910, 1920-1924)

95.54a Mandamuses Received (1877-1909, 1937)

95.55 Form Letters (1901)

95.56 Accounts Ledger, Franklin Legacy (1791-1868)

95.57 Journal, Franklin Legacy (1791-1870)

95.58 Bond Book, Franklin Legacy (1791-1825)

95.59 Loan Certificate Agent, Receipt Book (May-August 1838)

95.60 City Interest Payments (1923-1926)

95.61 City Treasurer, Correspondence and Papers (21 April 1891 - 7 October 1892)

Current Records

Administrative Officer / Check Disbursement Records

Administrative Officer / Deceased Employee Pay Files

Administrative Officer / Bank Signature Cards and Resolutions

Administrative Officer / Check Registers

Disbursements / Pension Withdrawal Checks and Registers

Disbursements / Cancelled Checks

Accounting & Reporting / Encumbered Fund Disbursement Requests

Accounting & Reporting / Investment Purchase and Sale Records

Accounting & Reporting / Tax Returns

Accounting & Reporting / Payroll and Pension Recapitulation Sheets

Accounting & Reporting / U.S. Savings Bond Records

Accounting & Reporting / Account Reconciliations

Accounting & Reporting / Financial Accounting System Report

Cash Investment Management / Investment Reports

Fiscal Planning & Analysis / Monthly Bank Collateral Reports

Fiscal Planning & Analysis / Unclaimed Monies Transfer Records

Fiscal Planning & Analysis / Bank Deposit Files

Public Finance / Financing Transaction Files

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Last updated on November 8, 2000