The Commissioner of Public Welfare shall have charge of the support and maintenance of the poor within the city and shall execute and administer the provisions of this Charter, the ordinances of the Common Council, and the laws of the state, relative to the relief of the poor within the city. Except as herein otherwise provided, he shall have the same powers, duties and liabilities as overseers of the poor in the towns of Niagara County, in all matters pertaining to the support and maintenance of the poor in said city, and as to those matters the city shall be regarded as a town of said county. The Commissioner of Public Welfare shall keep his office at such place as the Common Council shall direct. [§ 300, L. 1911, c. 870; amended by L.L. No. 2-1939]
The Commissioner of Public Welfare shall, before entering upon the duties of his office, give a surety bond to the said City of Lockport in such penal sum as may be fixed by the Common Council, not less than $4,000, and the Common Council may at any time when it shall deem the best interests of the city require it, by a written notice to be served on said Commissioner of Public Welfare, require him within a time named in said notice, not less than 10 days after the service of the same, to give such further and additional surety bond or bonds to said city in such penal sum or sums, and with such sureties and conditions, as the Common Council may deem necessary to protect the interests of the city, and thereupon said Commissioner of Public Welfare shall within the time so limited give such additional bond or bonds. [§ 301, L. 1911, c. 870; amended by L.L. No. 2-1939]
It shall be the duty of the Commissioner of Public Welfare personally to investigate the character, habits, location of residence, settlement, condition and necessities of all applicants for assistance and relief, the results of which shall be recorded in a proper book to be kept for that purpose. He shall not allow or pay any bill, account or claim for supplies furnished by any dealer, merchant or other person, unless the claimant, his agent or legal representative annex thereto an affidavit of such claimant, agent or representative stating that the bill or account is just and correct, that the items charged therein and specified in each accompanying order for supplies or relief have been in fact and good faith furnished by the claimant to the person named in the order and to no other person, and that no part thereof has been paid or satisfied, and that there are no offsets thereto; nor for compensation, expenses or services, unless the affidavit shall state that the account is just and correct and that no part thereof has been paid or satisfied, and there are no offsets thereto. He shall take up and preserve all orders, bills, accounts and vouchers of his expenditures and payments, and exhibit the same with his books and files to the Common Council whenever directed so to do. [§ 302, L. 1911, c. 870; amended by L.L. No. 2-1939]
The Commissioner of Public Welfare shall report to the Common Council at its first meeting in January, April, July and October in each year, a detailed statement of all his receipts and disbursements for the three months next preceding that in which such report is made, showing the money on hand at the beginning and end of the quarter, the date and amount of each order or payment for temporary relief, and the person to whom made or given, and all his other disbursements in like detail. Said report shall be verified by his oath taken before some proper officer, that the same is and the items thereof are correct to the best of his knowledge and belief. If said report is not sufficiently explicit the Common Council may call for a further report, which the Commissioner of Public Welfare shall immediately furnish. Upon receiving said report the Common Council shall refer it to some proper committee, which shall proceed without delay to carefully investigate and examine said report and the vouchers thereof and the books of said Commissioner of Public Welfare; and for that purpose the committee shall have power to send for persons and papers, and examine said Commissioner of Public Welfare and any other person or persons, under oath, in respect to any matter or thing in the premises. Such committee shall report to the Common Council, favorably or adversely, in whole or in part, with its reasons and recommendations, and the Common Council shall thereupon proceed to consider and audit the account of said Commissioner of Public Welfare, and shall have all the powers, duties and responsibilities of a board of town auditors in the premises. The affidavits annexed to said Commissioner of Public Welfare's report or to any of said bills, accounts or vouchers shall not be conclusive upon the Common Council in case it shall appear that any claim or item in said report is illegal, unjust or improper, in whole or in part, but in such case such item or portion thereof shall be disallowed, and said Commissioner of Public Welfare and his sureties shall be liable for the amount thereof. The Common Council shall cause each of said reports of the Commissioner of Public Welfare to be published in full, except the names of the persons to whom orders for temporary relief were given, as a part of the proceedings of the meeting at which the same is made. [§ 303, L. 1911, c. 870; amended by L.L. No. 2-1939]
The Common Council shall, at some regular meeting thereof in the month of September in each year, make an estimate of the sum which it shall deem necessary for the temporary relief and support of the poor in said city for the ensuing fiscal year, and to supply any deficiency in the preceding year, and shall cause such estimate to be laid before the Board of Supervisors of Niagara County at its then next annual meeting. The Board of Supervisors shall cause the said sum to be levied and collected in said city in the same manner and together with other taxes by it levied therein, and such sum shall be retained by the City Treasurer on his settlement with the County Treasurer, and paid over to the Commissioner of Public Welfare from time to time as the Common Council may direct. [§ 304, L. 1911, c. 870; amended by L.L. No. 2-1939]