MIRAMAR BOROUGH

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3052, 13 April 1917, Page 3

MIRAMAR BOROUGH

ANNUAL FINANCE STATEMENT A SATISFACTORY POSITION. The last meeting of the present Miramar Borough Council was held last evening, the Mayor (Mr. F. Townsend) presiding, and there were also present Councillors Tracy, Green, Pollock, and Tellford. Practically the only business was the adoption of the annual statement of receipts and expenditure prepared by the aoting-treasnrer of the borough (Mr. T. O. Fox). The result of the year's operations, according to the statement, could be shortly stated as .follows: —The debit balance on the general account had been reduced from £3626 to £2739, that on tho interest account from £1447 to £919, that on the Hospital and Charitable Aid Board account from £247 to £27, while the wharf contribution account had a small credit. The total reductions amounted to £1715 lis. 4d., and this could he considered very satisfactory, considering that certain items on the expenditure side of tho ..statement were very much larger than had boaii tho caso last year. Foremost among those was the sum of £782 transferred to the tramways account to I make up the deficiency between the traffic receipt's and the working expenses. Although the . receipts from the sale of tickets had increased _ by £570, the oar mileage dues had risen from £2648 to £3855. a difference of £1207. This was partly due to tho raising of the charge by the city from lOd. to Is. in consequence of the borogh ceasing to supply the current for the cars, ami partly to the improved service compared with that of last year. On the receipts side of the general account few items called for special comment, except that of rates, for both those current and outstanding had come in more freely than was the case during the previous twelve months, while the amount received for building permits had constituted' a record for the borough. This was all the more remarkable when the greatly increased cost of ■ building was taken into consideration. The increases in the tramway receipts, in building permit fees, and in the number of new names on. the district electors' list possessing a rating qualification were threo facts which should bp viewed with satisfaction. During the year two new loan accounts had been opened, namely, the Hutt Road construction loan and the Marine Parade loan. The former, as its name implied, had been raised under the provisions of the Hutt Road Act in order to pay the council's share of the cost of the road. The latter had .been sanctioned by the ratepayers in September last, and was to he utilisod in the improvement and protection from erosion of the foreshore in Worser Bay. In the interest accounts it could ho seen, that a payment had been mado by the Sinking Fund Commissioners of the £12,000 tramway loan towards the interest on the loan. This paymont represented tho net income from the invested fund, which was moro than sufficient to redeem tho debentures, and although the loan does not mature till 1933, tho above arrangement would, relieve the Tates to the same extent as would the paying off of the loan. The tramways return showed a much bigger loss total than that for tho year ended March 31, 1916, but this was explained in the financial statement. f J.lie totals for the year ended March 31, 1916, were-Miramar car mileage dues, £1330 15s. 2d.; receipts, £801 17s. 3d.; gain, nil; loss, £528 17s. 11(1. Seatoun care mileage dues, £1663 3s. lOd.; receipts, £1584 165.; gain, £62 13s. Bd.; loss, £111 Is. 6d. For the year ended March 31, 1917, tho .following were the' totalsMiramar car mileage '. dues, £1663 l is.; receipts, £849 4s. 7d.; gains, nil; loss, £814 Cs. sd. Seatoun, car'mileage dues, £1946 95.; receipts, £1621 2s. Id.; gain, £50 7s. 3d.; loss, £375 14s. 2d.

After the. statement had been read and commented on, the Mayor (Mr. F. Townsend) addressed the councillors. He first thanked them for' their regular attendance during the year, and also for the valuable amount of work they had done for the borough._ They had all had a very strenuous time, but ho was.pleased to say that as a result of their combined efforts and of the assistance rendered by the town clerk, engineer, and treasurer (Mr. T. 0. Fox), the borough was in a. bettor ■ position than it was at the end of last year. Secondly, he thanked the councillors for again, allowing themselves to bo nominated. Ho earnestly' hoped that the present council would, be. returned without opposition. He advanced two reasons for this hope. One was that by doing so the borough would be saved tho large expense of an election. The second was the principal reason, however, namely, that the present council thoroughly understood the retrenchment policy that had been adopted,-and which would be best carried out by the present council, who thoroughly understood the financial position of the borough. Other councillors endorsed the Mayor's remarks.,