Debit of £4000

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 67, 6 April 1937, Page 7

Debit of £4000

COUNTY FINANCE Eifect of Storms in February, 1936 GOOD RATE PAYMENTS A debit Ibalanoe of approxlmately £4000 is revealed in the Hawke's Bay County Council's balanoe sheet for the year ended March 31. The year began with a credit oi £1312, but the bad storms of February, 1936, forced the council into the positjon of having to spend in an unexpeoted quarter. An overdraft Iona was approved by the JUocal Government Loans Board to meet this expenditure. The storms, however, were a material factor in preventing the coujxcil from carrying out its tar-sealing pi'ogramme; indeed, had this been carried out, the council would have incurred a further debt of £4000, for whioh there was no legal authority, , Sq faV as revenue was conoerned, however, the council had an exeellent year. The sum of £52,049 was collected out of a total amount collectahle of £55,138, representing 94^- per cent, the best percentage for a large number of years. "A certain proportion of the debit balance is accountcd for by the lospes sustained by 'the council during the cyclonic storms of February, 1936," said the county clerk, Mr W. J. O'Connell, this morning. lThis cost of the damage must, of course, come into the qurrent year, and so far the council has had to bear the whole of the outlay. However, tnere is stdl a possibjlity of a. Government snbsidy bejng obtained." Because of the storm damage, Mr U'Qonnell added, the council was successful in applying to the Local Government Loans Board for an pyerdraft ioan, which would be more than sufficient to cqyer tho overdraft with which the council had finished its year. "Separate finaneial arrangements have been made for the ensvung finaneial year whereby the council's postponed tar-sealing programme will be proceeded with immediately the preparatory metalling work has been finished and the weather ia sufficiently warm for the work to be done." It is not possible to say at this juncture what rate, would be struck for the ensuing year, said Mr O'Connell. The council would give qonsideration to this in May or/June, and the rate Would actually be struck jn July. The munnep fn which last year's rates were paid was omiuently -satisfactory, said Mr O'Cpnnell. The percentage of

rates cQllected, namely, 94J per cent, represented the most satisfactory result -for a great many years j more so beoause the rates cpllected included native rates which could not as a rule be collected as easily as tho ordinary rates, Out of a total amount of £56,138, the sun; of £52,049 was actually collected. The following table shows the amounts and percentage of rates paid during the year ended Mareh 31 in the various ridings of tho countv r

In the percentage column, the figures are worked out to the nearest hulf per cent, which acopunts for the fact that in the case of the Waimarama riding the per centage is shown as 100, whereas the amount collected is £10 less than the amount collectahle.

£ £ Olive 4955 4525 91} Havelock ... 5423 5'323 98 Heretaunga 7579 7010 92} Maraekakaho 5018 4947 98} Okawa 8303 8103 97} Petane 3026 2971 98 Poukawa ... 4883 4498 92 Puketapu 5415 5026 93 Waikare ... 3277 2851 87 Waimarara 3672 3562 100 Totals 55138 52Q49 94}

Collect- Collect- Percenable ed tage