THE BOROUGH YEAR.

King Country Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 352, 12 April 1911, Page 5

THE BOROUGH YEAR.

MAYOR'S FINANCIAL STATE- j MENT. j j ATTENDANCE REGISTER. j At the conclusion of the ordinary business of the. Borough Council on Monday night, His Worship the Mayor presented his first annual financial statement, which showed the income for the year to March 31st, 1911, was £991 3s 4d, inclusive of rates collected and still outstanding, licenses,fees and Government subsidy. The estimated income was £776 6s 3d, so the estimates had been exceeded by £214 17s Id. There was about £SO due for rates on native land -—not an undue proportion of native rates as compared with European — and as soon as it was necessary to bring pressure to bear it would certainly be done with' both natives and j Europeans alike. In his opinion the ; Council would collect the greater part ! of the native rates. The expenditure j for the year amounted to £1145 Is 2a, j and exceeded the income by £154 8s lOd. The expenditure comprised pre- j liminary expenses in formation of i Borough £4O 18s Id, costs of first j election and returning officer's fees i £77 15s, Hospital and Chraritable Aid £l7B 10s Bd, office furniture and ap j pliances £B9 Is 7d, printing and ad- j vertisingand by-laws £llO, stationery and books £9 4s 4d, Clerk's salary | £123 3s 6d, sanitation £43 15s 6d, I fire prevention £B2 0s sd, pound ex- ; penses £2B 9s 3d, plant and tools £l6 ; 17s Id, insurance and bank charges j £2 7s, interest £ll 7s 3d, law costs j £ls 6s lOd, valuation, etc., £25 19s, ! forming, maintaining and repairing j roads and streets £290 16s Bd, total i £1145 2s 2d. Loan expenditure.—To : date,the amount expended was £1255. ; All he need say under this head was that, notwithstanding the great difficulty which the Council had experienced in getting tenders for the works put in hand at anything like the Engineer's estimates, by carefully watching every tender and omy accepting such a3 were reasonable, the work so far had been accomplished well within the Engineer's estimates. The Council was to be congratulated on the work done during the year, which had gone very smoothly,and they owed much to the : work of the Clerk. He predicted j Mr Darbyshire would in a few years j equip himself as one of the most capable officials they had, and he ; felt that the new Council, whoever j they might be, would be justified in ; granting him an increase of salary. | Lastly, he desired to thank the j Council for the uniform courtesy he j had been treated with. He was not j given to flattery, but he had never sat j a table where it had been a greater pleasure to work. They had had vari- , ous keen debates, but had wasted , little time, and he felt suro the Council would go out of office with respect for ona another, and a feeling of sat- j isfaction with the work done. He j thanked the Council for their kindness, . and if the people of Te Kuiti got an- j other Council with the same honesty, ability and "courage, they would have no rpason to regret it. At all events, the Council would have no reason for regretting their past year s work. Cr Hardy wished to make it clear that certain items put down a3 expended on current account were really on capital account. Such items as office' furniture, fire prevention and i plant and tools were not current ex- j pendiure, and of course preliminary j expenstes and other items were non- | recurrent. This should be emphasised j as the public might not understand. ; Next year, as had been said, many : items would not recur. ; Cr Lusk voiced the feelings of j everyone present when he thanked the j Mayor for the statement made that j night, and for the cordial way in j which he had referred to the relations | between Council and Mayor. On be- j half of all present he presented a j requisition and expressed the hope j that the Mayor would allow liimsek j to be nominated for another year, i i saying that the Borough would be : ' fortunate in having him as chief ■ magistrate. . The Mayor appreciated very highly the requisition. He felt the position : i should be a rolling one, and no man j should hold it too long, and that Coun- | cillors should look forward to their i turn coming in due time. But for ! the important work they were eni gaged in at the present time, he would | have retired, but if the burgesses ! wished it would allow himself to be i nominated, on the distinct undeistand- [ ing that he was not to be looked upon as occupying the position in perpetuI ity, and subject to the understanding that if his time was otherwise occupied he had the right to withdraw. He did not expect this, however, and was perfectly willing to take the position for another year. Attendance I-toll.~~ The following list of attendances was read by the Clerk:—Council: The Mayor, 25 out of 9 5; Cr Young, 21 out of 25; Cr Lusk, 21 out of 25; Cr Stevens. 21 out of 25; Cr Hetet, 13 out of 22; Cr Pepene, 8 out of 25; Cr oomerville, | 19 out of 25; Cr Hardy, 21 out of 25; !Cr King 22 out of 25; Cr Julian 21 lout of 25 Committees: The Mayor, | IS out of 18; Cr Young, 21 out of I Cr Lusk 25 out of 32: Cr Stevens, 17 ; out of 17; Cr Hetet, 3 out of 4; Cr ! T'epene, 4 out of 4; Cr Somerville, ill out of 17; Cr Hardy, IS out ot 22; jCr King, o* out of ; Or Julian, 14 ! out of 19.