HOSPITAL CONTRIBUTIONS.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 520, 23 November 1912, Page 5

HOSPITAL CONTRIBUTIONS.

OVERDUE PAYMENTS. THE STRAIN ON LOCAL BODIES. A SATISFACTORY SOLUTION. The secretary to the Waikato Hospital and Charitable Aid Board has sent out a circular to the various local bodies contributing to the upkeep of the Waikato Hospital, as a reminder, in many cases, that this year's levy has not yet been paid and intimating that it is payable in one sum. He mentions, however, that, for the convenience of local bodies, the board allowed him to receive the sum in portions, owing to the fact that as a rule the board's expenditure was fairly equally distributed over the twelve months and there was no occasion to compel local bodeis to pay the year s quota in full and leave the board with a large credit at the bank. This privilege was being abused, inasmuch that some of the local bodies paid up promptly in one sum, while others made little effort to pay without pressure and this was not fair to those who oaid up. If the local authority would, say, divide the sum demanded into two, three or four portions and ;,* intuit each portion in advance of the periods, the board's finances would be satisfactory and an overdraft would not be necessary. Say that the sum required from a local body was £4UO; if £IOO was paid strictly on receipt of demand, £IOO on July Ist, JSIOO on October Ist, and £IOO in January, it would suit very well, unless in case of emergency, when the secretary could notify local bodies accordingly. This letter was. not to be construed as debarring or waiving the legal claim of the board from calling up the whole of the sum demanded in one pavment, but was to be read solely as an equitableway out of financial difficulty by a council or board For the information of the council, the secretary stated that the Government subsidy was paid after the board receives the levy from local bodies, so that until the local bodies pay in part of the levy there is no susbidy.