BOROUGH FINANCES.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 1033, 20 April 1912, Page 3

BOROUGH FINANCES.

THE ANNUAL BALANCESHEET.

The annua! balance-sheet that was presented by the Town Clerk at Monday night’s Council meeting discloses a very satisfactory state of affairs. The statement is, of course, subject to audit, but can be taken as correct. The tollowing is a summary of the different accounts: —

GENERAL ACCOUNT

This account opened with a debit balance of ,£l2B 2s 4d, and after allowing tor votes of ,£530 to the gas works account, and £l3O 3s id to the Town Hall loan account, in addition to small votes to three other separate accounts, the year ended with a debit of £ll2 15s Bd, or £ls 7s qd less than at the commencement of the year, a result that is indeed very satisfactory. Of course, there was a considerable increase in the amount of rates collected during the past year, on account of the new valuations of the borough being far in excess ot the previous ones—this increase in rales amounting to about £4OO. There was also an amount of £364 js rod transferred from the Town Hall account, belug the balance from picture shows and letting, after paying the current working expenses. The total receipts of the general account amounted to £2207 9 s qd, the chief items being : Rates and Government subsidy on same, £1360 6s 6d, transferred from Town Hall account £364 73 rod, license fees £2Ol 3s, rents £ioS 3s, refunds £O3 os 6d, dog registration £43 xßs 6d, sales £34 10s nd, and pound and building fees £29 15s. The expenditure, including the debit balance of £l2B 2s qd brought forward from the previous year, totalled £2320 ss, made up chiefly as follows : Maintenance of roads, streets and drains £649 1 is rod, vote to gas works account £530, salaries and office expenses £237 10s 2d, street lighting £196 xgs gd, vote to Town Hall loan account £l3O 3s id, interest and sinking fund on Council Chambers printing and advertising £SO IOS 6d, Hospital and Charitable Aid Board £4l 17s Bd, licensing expenses £36 4s, revaluation of borough £23 8s gd, and ranging £l9 ns xod. The current year is commenced with this account showing a debit of £ls 7s qd less than was the case at the commencement of the previous year.

LIBRARY ACCOUNT

The library account opened with a credit balance of £1 10s 2d, and closed with a credit of £1 5s 1 id.. The receipts, chief of which were, rates ,£sl Ss gd, Government subsidy ,£2l 7s, and subscriptions ,£ll gs gd. totalled ,£B7 19s gs, and the expenditure ,£B6 13s icd. The main items of expenditure were: Books, magazines, and papers ,£35 is, firing and lighting ,£23 5s 46, secretary ,£ls, and caretaker ,£lO.

RRSRRVES ACCOUNT,

The only revenue in connection with this account was from rents, amounting to £IOO is 2d, which, added to the balance irom last year, £5 8s od, made a total ot 9s 2d. The expenditure amounted to 11s yd, leaving a credit to start the new year with of £ l 3 x 7 s 7d- The main expenditure was as follows ; Additions to cottage on pound reserve ,639 r xs, secretary gas services to cottages ,£l2 14s 6d, and trees and plants £7 12s 6d.

CEMETERY ACCOUNT,

The Cemetery Account commenced with a credit balance of 18s 3d and to meet the expenditure of the year it was necessary to make a grant ot £\ from the general account, this amount leaving the account in credit to the amount of 4s yd. The chief receipts were ; Sale ot sites xos, reut of reserve and burial lees £7 12s 6d. The expenditure was made up mainly of labour and material ,£lB 3s Bd, sexton’s salary and fees ,£ls 2s 6d, and secretary ,£ls. SANITATION ACCOUNT.

As in the cemetery account, it was also necessary to vote a sum from the general account to meet the expenditure under this head. The sanitation fees totalled ,£361 13s 6d, which together with the vote of £6 and balance from last year, £4 2s Bd, made a total of £371 16s 2d. After allowing lor the expenditure, chief of which was wages £276, horse ,645 > and horse feed ,£34 os rod, there was a balance in hand of 14s 4d. GAS WORKS ACCOUNT,

The details in connection with this account will be read with great interest by ratepayers, and we will therefore publish a copy of same as it appears in the balance-sheet, as follows :—Receipts : Gas sales —lighting os Sd, heating and power 53 7d, fittings £306 17s 7d, tar 5s 6d, coke 10s, coal Bs, and amount voted from general account totalling in all £2027 7s 4d. Expenditure: Balance on March 31st, 19x1, 2s Sd, coal ,£442 13s 2d, pipes and fittings 3s id, meters 7s yd, labour, plant ,£129 16s 6d, working expenses 15s, services xos Bd, and fittings os Bd, secretary printing £2O SS. repairs to engine £l7 7s 9d, oxide ot iron xßs 6d, freight, cartage, etc., ,£27 9s 3d, tools ,£xo X2s 6d, miscellaneous £23 19s Bd, balance March 31st, 1912, £3 5S 4d : total £2,027 7s 4d. From the above it will be seen that the position of the gas works is much better than was the case twelve months ago. Further,

some 90 new services were laid during the past lew months, which will be the means of greatly increasing the consumption of gas during the current year. Although it was necessary to make a vote of from the general fund to meet last year’s expenses, it must be taken into consideration that that period commenced with a debit of something over ,£IBO, and also that the meters installed, from which there is no return, cost ,£l9O, the difference in the amount expended in pipes and fittings, and the amount paid on account of same was ,£205, and the cost of labour in connection with the new services must have amounted to fully ,£IOO, a total in all of nearly so it will be seen that even during the past year the works were in a fair way to become a paying concern, and it is safe to predict that the present year will be the last that it will be necessary to collect a rate to provide interest and sinking fund in connection with this account, a state of affairs highly satisfactory to all concerned. TOWN HALL ACCOUNT.

The working of the Town Hall tor the five and a-half mouths that it has been in existence has resulted in an amount of £364 7s rod belug transferred to the general account, showing that the running of picture shows by the Council has been ,a pronounced success. The total receipts in connection with this account were £742 12s 3d, made up as follows; —Opening concert £45 9s gd, ball £25 16s, hall privileges £9 is, rents £72 xos 6d, picture shows £589 15s. The expendiinre, made up of concert expenses £l4 ixs 4d, ball £24 6s 6d, wages £IOO 3* 3 f l> film hire £B9 3s 76, gas £44 17s id, advertising £24 5s qd, insurance £59 8s qd, and repairs and miscellaneous ,£2l gs, totalled £378 qs 3d, leaving a balance to credit of £364 7s xod.

THE PUBLIC DEBT,

The public debt of the borough is, according to the balance-sheet, ,£22,265 125 sd.

ASSETS AND LIABILITIES

The statement of assets and liabilities shows that the borough possesses assets to the value of £,17,733 los 3d, and that the liabilities amount to £846 qs, leaving a balance ot assets over liabilities of ,£16,487 12s 3d.