Section 1. The city controller shall be the head of this department; he shall hold his office for a term of three years, and until his successor shall be duly chosen and qualified.
The city controller shall:
I. Prescribe the form of reports and accounts to be rendered to his department, and shall have the inspection and revision of the accounts of all other departments and trusts.
II. Audit the accounts of the several departments and trust, and all other accounts in which the city is concerned; and submit annually to councils, in such manner as may by ordinance be directed, a report of the accounts of the city, verified by his oath or affirmation, exhibiting the revenues, receipts and expenditures, the sources from which the revenues and funds are derived, and in what manner the same have been disbursed, which report shall be published in pamphlet or book form.
III. Keep separate accounts for each specific item or appropriation made by councils to each department, and require all warrants to state specifically against which of said items the warrant is drawn. Each account shall be accompanied by a statement in detail, in separate columns, of the several appropriations made by councils, the amount drawn on each appropriation, the unpaid contracts charged against it, and the balance standing to the credit of the same.
IV. He shall not suffer any appropriation to be overdrawn, or the appropriation for one item of expense to be drawn upon for any other purpose, or by any department other than that for which the appropriation was specifically made, except on transfers made by ordinance of councils; or unless sufficient funds, out of which said warrant is payable, shall actually be in the treasury at the time.
V. If any warrant presented to the controller contain an item for which no appropriation has been made, or there shall not be a sufficient balance of the proper fund for the payment thereof, or which for any other cause should not be approved, he shall notify the proper department of the fact; and if the controller shall approve any warrant, contrary to the provisions hereof, he and his sureties shall be individually liable for the amount of the same to the holder thereof.
VI. Whenever a warrant or claim shall be presented to him, he shall have power to require evidence that the amount claimed is justly due, and for that purpose may summon before him any officer, agent or employes of any department of the city, or any other person, and examine him, upon oath or affirmation, relative to such warrant or claim.
VII. He shall also perform all duties required of him by law or ordinance, not inconsistent with the provision hereof.
Detailed statements of the receipts and expenditures of the several departments shall be made on the third Monday of each month to the controller.
Every contract involving an appropriation of money shall designate the item of appropriation on which it is founded, and shall be numbered by the controller in the order of its date, and charged as numbered against such item, and so certified by him, before it shall take effect as a contract, and shall not be payable out of any other fund; and if he shall certify any contract in excess of the appropriation properly applicable thereto, the city shall not be liable for such excess, but the controller and his sureties shall be liable in damages for an amount not exceeding such excess, which may be recovered in an action on the case for negligence, by the contracting party aggrieved: Provided, That so much of this section as enacts that a contract, certified by the controller, shall not be payable out of any other fund than the item of appropriation against which it is numbered, shall not apply to such contracts for public improvement as are referred to in Article XV, Section 1, hereof.
The controller shall, at the end of each fiscal year, or oftener if so required by councils, and also upon the death, resignation, removal or expiration of the term of any officer, audit, examine and settle the accounts of such officer; and if he shall be found indebted to the city, the controller shall state an account and file the same in the court of common pleas of the proper county, together with a copy of the official bond of such officer, and give notice thereof to him or his legal representatives, and if any person or persons affected thereby shall be dissatisfied with such settlement he or they may appeal therefrom.
The appeal, with his or their exceptions to the account as stated, verified by the oath of the person or persons appealing, shall be filed in the office of the prothonotary of said court within ten days after the service of notice. The appellant shall, within ten days, enter security, to be approved by the court, to prosecute the appeal with effect, and pay the costs and the debt and interest which may appear by the judgment of the court to be due to the city. The balance of account, as shown by the settlement filed as aforesaid, shall constitute a lien on the real estate of the officer, so indebted, and his sureties from the date of the filing thereof, which lien shall continue for the period of five years from the date of filing. A writ of scire facias to enforce the lien shall be issued thereon within six months, which shall contain a clause warning the sureties, or the executors or administrators of the officer or of his sureties, to appear and make defense, and the case shall thereupon be proceeded with to final judgment, according to law.
Notice of the audit shall be given by the controller to the officer or his legal representatives, before the final statement of the account, and if desired by such officer or his legal representatives, opportunity shall be given for a hearing. A copy of such notice, with an affidavit of the proof of service thereof, shall be filed with the statement of account, as evidence of service of notice.