THE MAYOR ON CITY FINANCE.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1631, 24 December 1912, Page 9

THE MAYOR ON CITY FINANCE.

: 1.'." TRAMS •SAID...TO. BE'RAYING. . ;.

The. Mayor, (Mr. D. M'Larcri) made an, . Interesting statement'yesterday regarding' the city's finances. 116 said that in a memorandum'''obtained from the City Treasurer the financial "position ''-.was shown to be very tiatisfactof'y. '•' Durih'jrHhe x Jear there have.Kesri'several extraordinary items of : -'o£; a-non-recurrihaj-'iiat'tire, "namsly'f—A'cadihiy.• of Tiii-e formiiff/'tho'lyall Bay reserve, .£S33;""lCi]biniie ' Eecraation Ground,"'£llso;'-fisli market; :'£Ror.\ and'., land at;Maranu},"^so;,.'v''f' v " : ' ;;TK: . The ordinary city services have been well provided for, notwithstanding., theabove spccial_ expenditure.''' Tho various ■ Items of receipts and expenditure are, on ":he whole, coming out as estimated by'ino' it- the beginning of the financial year, jny small excess on Same, items being jompensatod by ..savings, in other directions. The followingt.shows the position of-the chief sources of general revenue:— ' Bates to. be collected this year,' includr. ing arrears from .last, : year, amount to £1G1,763.' ; ,. The .demands, were sent out to the ratepayers oh'Augiist'l2 and 15,. arid to the suburban districts on September 4. The amount collected to.December-19 'was ■£91,877', The.demands for the second instalment,'were'; posted. on December 3 to 5, and the.money, is coining,iri-yery satisfactorily..,At'this t'iriie last.year we had received ■£91,023, so that-the collection this year shows a'slight improvement. . For the year the. rents collectable amount to £29,1.53, arid up.to date we have received' £19,379.'' The', greater proportion of the balance is not duo until. February and March, next. ; .The amount received by way .of. rents at,even date last year amounted to £17,99!,. which shows a little in '•tc"«.. ', --. ~...' ' :

The Mayor said;that he thought that he could estimate that at the end of the financial year' (notwithstanding tho exceptional expenditure referred'to) the accounts would show, that the city had lived within its income, and had come out on the right side, "which is the policy,", added the Mayor,."that I have aimed at." The following are the Mayor's statistics regarding ; the : city:—Capital. values, ■£18,228,384'; unimproved values, -£9,991,454; value of improvements, £8,230,900. ' - The total.assets of tho corporation, not including reserves, amount to £3,068,070. The public debt; of tho city "amounts to £2,272,050. Our sinking funds at present ore £231,178. The .depreciation fund of the tramways is shown as £87,560, and the depreciation' fund of the electric lighting stands at £20,5-10. The Mayor admits that the tTamways' have been a matter of serious.concern to those having charge of this important -business, in which is sunk over half a million of capital, and, lie. added:—"l am glad to be able to siy that we have got over the stage of having a- deficit, and the last, return prrtssnted to me shows that even with the .incrta-sed charges we have., had to meet this year,' we hare now a credit,balance of £1959." The Mayor coneluded by stating that he wished,- en behalf, ef himself and Mrs. M'Laren, through the press, to wish all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous' New Tear.