CITY'S FINANCE

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2380, 9 February 1915, Page 7

CITY'S FINANCE

' INTERESTING REVIEW BY MAYOR - W&AT FIGURES SHOW

Yesterday morning tho Mayor (ilr.. J. ''P.. Luko) issued to the. Press, a statements which, ha Bays, will show that the, .financial position of the City Corporation 36 yer^'satisfactory. ; ■ . T ho rc M i ay ? r „ eap^sised,. first of! aJJ. .the cjiect of the delay in completing the -Tiou' valuations upon the revenue from bo - remembered that juiis.. delay held back the issue of rate demands. until considerably after thV iisual-jtinie; As a consequence it wirf absolutely necessary for the City Cow,;oil ,to - keep expenditure dotal as far is jtwas :compatible with the efficient mai-f rtenance_>'of the various municipal >er•wees and the employment of the mahi- ; ; Tb o position was acCfhtiijaied .by. the outbreak of tho .European war m. August. ; Iri order to cany on tthe work or the city. th 6 council hid then .ftp i undertake & large is;there '.was practically nothing coming in from irates. Normally, there is little income suatil August, when the first lysialmfent ■ jp' rates becomes, available, ana this year it was much, later before the revenue |began,:to come into the exchequer.' The ; .iamount received' by. way; of/rife's fiom tapril to , July 1 was '■and the work had to be carried on out of The City Coiincil has a standing. agreement with its , Baiik; to ■ overidraw up to and this amount iui the month of September last, for She reasons mentioned before, had to be ■■ Increased to £75,000.. The council deemed this, procedure preferable to contri--.lbnting •' to The rates /liave-for some months now been coming in freely. . There have been several tiases *of hardship, but delay in payment can ionly-be considered: when there is evidence to show that the delay ia due to aio faiilt of the ratepayers themselvesj , and relief can only bo granted on tho amount being made a oharge on the property. ' For the work of the City Treasui jer.and his staff and the rate-collecting stiff , the Mayor desires to express on ibehalf of the council .and himself high appreciation. The . office staff never Spared iteelf,. and its devotion to duty feyond regular , hours is regarded as .saving been of substantial benefit to the; ■icitry in saving charges oii overdraft f rem. ■Way to day. . •,.... : ■ ■ Two Years Compared. ~ The Mayor made an interesting com-'i panson between the rate returns for this present financial year, and those of a similar period of the preceding year; In each case the returns from April to 'July are taken as being negligible, on :the. grounds already stated. The followjiDg table shows •'tie position:— 1913-14. • 1914-15. i j-L £ s. d. £ s. d." ('Angust ... 9,757 14 11 ' 443 3 2 September 28,605.14 9 3.838 11 9 October .. 23,880 17 0 16,040 12 10 November 5,172 8 9 29,965 16 10 ' 35,800 14 3 36,831 10 4 Marsuary, 30,095 5 7 39,416 14 10 ' . Tcttal £133,322 14 9 £126,538 1 9 Tims the amount: collected for .the '..present financial year is £6784 l3s. less than for the corresponding period of 1913-14. If the revaluation is taken, She shortage up to tho present on the. Srate demands for the year is about '£10,000. In commenting on, this, the Mayor said he was sure that, when it was remembered that the rate demands were not issued -■ for Northland until September 9, for Wadestown until Sep- ; .'tember 10, for Melrose until September 18, and for tho City until October 21, , the public wotlld share the satisfaction Vof ite; representatives, in the response i joade up to the present. "

Position on March 31. Entering into further financial details, ' file Mayor said that the position on • March 31; 1914, showed the following : credit balances;— • vi . . - £ s. d. . ibattorre 1,049 . 0 7 'IMstrictFund 17,434 12 8 •' ,iElectri<S. light 18,998 16 U ; : Accident Fond 3,349 3 6 /Tramways account ......... 8,794 14 5 ■ i Tramway. Accident Fund 9,247 16 6 ' Total £58,869 4 6 ,► 'Against this was-the loan from the . jnion Bank of £50,000, leafing a net rodit of £8869 4s; : 6d. , On September 23, .1914, the position ras as, follows: — £ s. d. • Oobit' balances— . Union Bank 10an'...... 50,000 0 0 District Fund overdraft 36,009 0 0' £86,009 0.0 Less: 6redit< 38,903 11 4 '. Total debit balance £47,100 8 8 Ihe credit halanoes were: — £ s. d. Vbattoir6 1,656 15 5 S'ectric light 15,607 .1 10 general accident 3,224 10 5 tramways 9,496 2: .0 ■Tramways, accident fund 8,924 1 8 Total credits £88,908 11 4 On February 3, 1915/ the position was •much better, as .the "following figures 'show:—: . ■ V ■ ' ;■ ..." : £ s.'d. Credit balances— ;; . Abattoirs . 1,015 2 9. .tistriot fund 46,202 5 10' lectrio light ............... 13,490 -8 8 encral accident fund 3,087 1 6 ramwaya. 35,748 17 4 .'ratnways accident..fund. 8,318 15 10 .Total 1 £87,857 11 11 Bank loan 75,000 0 0 Net credit . £12,857 11 11 During tho present month interest has be paid bil Various City loans 'to v ie 'of £18i250. There were I sposits with the City Council on Feb;Dary : 3 'amounting to £31,000.

Undertakings In View. Tlie Mayor is of opinion that by the end of the financial year, March 31 next,., the position will be still more satisfactory, and it is intended, to proceed with • fcirtaih postponed works at once; Tenure' havo. been called for the ■ further widening of Willis • Street, by putting back the frontage of tbe four shops at the Mercer Street c<3rner, and at the ;Mme time widoning Mercer Street and ■easing the, angle of. junction with Willis •Street. The City Engineer is also to i Vi ike a start with the projected improvements t<j Molesworth Street. A. cement •Aed will. be laid down and superimposed jbn this will Be,a layer of-tar macadani, .which on. account of-the-grade in the ■fetreet is deemed more satisfactory than jwoodrblocking. A start will also be 'made with the; preparation of Crawford 3oad for the link tramivay over the hill. Vrom Constable Street to . Kilbirnia. Crawford Road./md the cutting at the Jaddfe will be widened considerably, and hits work will h» carried out while the tramway material and snecial work is an the way. This tfork will occupy some /time.