GOVERNMENT LOANS TO LOCAL BODIES.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1434, 17 December 1886, Page 2

GOVERNMENT LOANS TO LOCAL BODIES.

Wellington, December 16The Colonial 'treasurer supplies the following information respecting the Government Loans to Local Bodies Act : A great deal of attrition has been given to tois Act. A precis of the two Acts wa* sent to every Real body in he colony Ft wa< then determined to invite applications from local bodies for loans amoanting in all to £200,000, authorised to be granted this year Applications were to be sent in by the 30th November. It was resolved, as the applications were not ex peoted to be m excess of the total amount, to allow applies ions to be sent in for loans for which the local body had only resolved to ask the ratepayers consent, before that o nsent was granted Fortunately the totvl amount comes jnst within the total aval able tom, and no pto rata reduction has to be made, otherwise it would have been unfair to place loans unauthorised by the ratepayers upon the same footing as those which had received their sanction. The total applications received were for £286,667, from which had to be deducted amounts included for the second year, amounts asked to pay off overdraft (which could n t be oeseuted to under the Act) and applications not sent in in time. After these deductions were made there remained a total number of formal applications to be dealt with, amounting to £199,744 divided »a follows :—Counties, £127,764 ; Koad Boards, £66,380 ; Town Boards, £1 400; boroughs, £3,V00; Rl* er Boards, £1000; total £.99 744. It ly probable, though these are all provisionally granted, that the ratepayers will refuse to ratify emit of them, The C lomal Treasurer has intimated to tba local bodies whose applications came In too late that he will consider them If the ratepayers reject some of the -cans provisionally granted The whole of the replies to local bodies will bo posted by to-morrow.