MAYOR REVIEWS THE COUNCIL'S FINANCES

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 146, 8 July 1937, Page 6

MAYOR REVIEWS THE COUNCIL'S FINANCES

BOROUGH RATE IS LOWER Local-Body Levies Explajn Increase SOUND AND PROGRESSIVE A slight decrease in the actual borough rate, but an increase of three-tenths of a penny in the £ in the comprehensive rate owing to the increased levies made hy other local hodies, are announced hy the, Mayor, Mr. G. A. Maddison, in his annual commentary on the borough rating. "I conBider our citizens have every reason to he satisfied ** -with the paxticularly sound finaneial position of the borough, and councillors also have overy reason to he gratified with their efforts in sound and progressive administration," he said. He proceeded to deal comprehenrdvely with various . aspects of the horough finances and the working estimates for the now current year.. "The comprehensive rate to be levied, and which embodiee Borough Council, Hospital Board, Rivers Board, and Harbour Board rates, is 7.30 pence in the £, unimproved value, compaTed with 7d in the £ last year, being an increase of .30 pence, which equals an amount of £1610 5/-, ' ' Mr Maddison says. 4 'The details aTe as follow: —

"Borough rates show a slight reduetion of .01 pence, and the other eonbutary hodies show an increase ofs .31 pence. Two Cheap Services. "The water rate, whxch ia a service rate, and is levied in lieu of the heavy eost that would be involved in installing water meters throughout the borough, remains the same. In fact it has not shown any alteration for the last 15 years at least,' although the consuxuption of water has more than doubled during that period, and the capacity of sapply in the matter of an additiouai reservoir and so on, has also been more than doubled. As a matter of fact the rate charged for water here ia particularly low when compared with the water rate or water charges levied by many local boditii in New Zealaiid. L or instance, Palmerston North and Auckland levy a rate of 4i per cenr. and "4£ per cent. respectively, of the annual value of all property in their municipalities, and if Hastings wero similarly rated the borough would receive £S500 against its present water rate lncome of £4442, a difference of £3758. "Further, the cost of the rubbish collection, namely £1827. is borne by the general account, and is not made the subject of a special charge or rate,, as is the commoh piactice among local' hodies in New Zealand. "The total rate to be levied by ihe borough is:— Borough: £31,427 19/10 (1937-37, £31,452 6/7) ; Hospital Board: £6'339 6/5 (£5313 12/4); Rivers Board: £698, 8/- (£805 1/10); Harbour Board (new rate): £752 2/5. "For the purpose of comparison, the i'ollowing are the rates that have been levied iu various years: — 1931 ; £37,897 1933 £32,780 19ou .......... £31,183 1937 ' £38.567 - "lt would appear that. although ihe rate iu the £ has shown au increase over earlier years, the aggregate rate remains approximately stable, when we take into consideration the cost of rubbish collection, £1827, plus iuterest for the year on the sewerage loan of £1 737, wiiicn equals £3564. "lt is wurthy of mention that the increased rate in the £ is due to a reauction in the unimproved value of the horough, naiuely £1,3S0,GUU in 1937-3.'s. compared with £1,003,955 in 1934-35— a decrease of £117,555. Aguiu, undoi the pruvisious of Ihe Urbaii Parm Land Raliug Act, Ihe council has been eumpelled to accept a reduction in rate jii come from these lauds, to the extent of £1400, and which suin had uecessarily to be added to the payments made by other ratepayers as it is obv:ous th" Borough Council must budget for an ineome sufficient to carry on its affairs , Sound and Progressive ControL •*1 niamtain that performauces substantiato our claim that the control .of t£e borough business has been sound and progressive, and that the interests oi our .people have been couserved cn a manner euusiatent with the needs oi' (Birch a 'rapidly growing borough," said Mr, Maddison. 4 1 Although much work lias been done iu receut years, much more remains to be done, and that cau only be done in the Iight of available finance. Heavy rating costs are aetrv zuental to borohgh development, and coasequeatly. lecogriisiiig this faet, Overy eifort has, been made to keep the borough rates within reasonable limits (tjpmp&txble with efficioncy. "Our finaneial position is favourable and sound, and titi? is readijy realised Vfhan. comparieons of "charges levied by «tlMr boreughs is revicwed. 1 have notlced in the Press of this country, that tLere is scarcely a local body of any 4m tfcat has not been cotupelled to

I ' ■ " ■ ii "Again x'ortunate po&ition of our borough rating this yeai, and which showe a sinai I .eduction on 1936-37 rates for the rea- , ohs" that there has ccme to charge i'or tne first time sum of £1737, being iuterest and sinking fund on the sewerage loan of £34.UU0; and also arrearj of raies are expeeicd to produce only £975 against ij.584 in 1936-37; £1709 in 1935-30; and £8083 in 1934-35; and i'uvther, the costs of materials, wages, and services, have shown a very material increase.

"No provision whatever has been made for repairs to footpaths and bitumen roads, formation of further permanent roads, concrete footpaths, unprovumonts to reserves, development of Civic Squuro, alterations to tiie library, eztensious of ihe sewerage and water services, etc. " said the Mayor, Buc.li works, as are approved in the supplementary estimates, and which are now under consideration, will be met from the surplus that remains from the cash paymeut made to the council by the Hawke's Bay Electric Power Board, when the board took over the borough supply, plus the sum of £4420 15/2 that is received annually from the board, and which is credited to the general account." He pomted out that the whole of the outstanding loan indebtedness of the Electrical Department was taken over by the Power Board, and it remains responsible for all future paymenta of interest and sinking fund. • "This reserve fund has been progressively used by the council for ordinary borough purposes and borough improvements, and has therefore been a substantial relief to ratepayers," he added. , Revenue and Expenditure. The items of estimated receipts are as follow: —

Estimated expenditure is as follows:

1937-38. 1936-37. General rate ... 3.20d 3.20d IdbraTy rate .... -15d .16d Special rate .... 2.50d 2.50d 5.85d 5.86d Hospital levy .. 1.18d .99d Rivers levy .... J3d .15d « Harbour levy .. .14d — 1.45d 1.14d Total .... 7.30d 7.00d

_ -P fl . v ? S cs co — , •if Jg 12 ss £ £ Arrears of rates 525 900 Ten per cent penalty 150 171 Government Subsidy 450 450 Heavy Traffic 1360 1329 Fees and licenses 2739 2898 Rents 43 66 Refund Petrol Tax 130 132 Miscellaneous 250 294 Parks and reserves 601 697 Sundry reimbursement* 650 772 Sales of materials * 150 324 Sanitation 15 24 Water account 5443 5647 Cemetery account 453 420 General Rate of 3/2 16820 16532 2977930656

> -3 n . ■ 5 ct- _ -fS 43 . . fj a g es eg b- sj u s ceo w - ® o . § J (A A S » * • W IS p § ZiJ "3 W — i i— £ £ Honorarium and salaries 3090 3036 Printing, stationary etc. 350 308 Office expenses 946 903 Legal expenses 80 80 Sundry expenses ' 208 178 Insurance 010 181 Subsidies and grants 265 271 Coronation expenses 350 — Unauthorised 250 .143 Fire Board levy L150 ,1200 Elections and polls 60 — Standard survey 125 125 Car repairs and' allowances 234 175 Dog reg. and impounding 264 330 Street lighting 750 713 Town Clock (maintenance) 75 57 Relief of unemployment 150 123 Interest on overdraft 150 . 137 Miscellaneous 200. 178 Traffic control 250 210 deserves and afi'orestatioD 3515 3596 New motor truck 283 — Engineer's department 9166 9097 New motor trucks 1039 — Balance road-sealing contract 177 — Water account 5938 5805 Cemetery account 520 606 29779 27452