THE BOROUGH BUDGET

Taupo Times, Volume IV, Issue 172, 13 May 1955, Page 4

THE BOROUGH BUDGET

In our issue oi' May 21, 1954, commenting on the Boroufl Council estimates for the year ending March 31 last, we statq that the general rate of 5$d in the £ then proposed appearedl be on tlie conservative side, and that increased rates were i& evitable. The forecast thus made did not, of course, requirea^j special insight, and the Council's estimates for the present yesf repoi'ted in our last issue, which provide for a general ratel 7&d in the £, have confirmed it. The new rate, again, cannoti considered as other than conservative, in view of the needsofa Borough. The financial year just ended began with a debit balancel the Council's General Account of £2896, a fact which indicatffl that expenditure up to that date had exceeded the provisiaj made for it bv that amount. In its estimates for the past yaj the Council, in striking a general rate of 5£d in the £ aimedinS Estimates to reduce the debit balance ot £2896 to £959 atufl end of the year on March 31, 1955. Actually, the summaryl the year's finances. as presented to the Council meeting on Apa 27 last, showed that the financial year closed with a creditbi ance in the General Account of £295. J While this result in itself may be considered as not altogeM undesii'able, it cannot be regarded as being an unmixed blefl ing. Last year's Estimates, on which last year's rates wai based provided for the expenditure of £1500 on Streets m Footp'aths, and of another £1500 on Street Sealing On ttj two items £355 and £486 only were spent, a total of £2159 Ifl than was budgeted for. It follows that, if the work had M done, that was planned for under these two heads, the Genfflj Account would have had a debit balance oi £1864 at MaichB last, instead of a credit balance of £295. For several vears rating has lagged behmd the works toj done, as is shown by the debit balances in the General Accofii The amount provided in this year's estimates for Streets Sj Footpaths, and for Street Sealing, out of rating revenue, isOT £1000 less than was budgeted for last year. On the other M a loan of £10,000 is to be raised tor Street Sealing, and asu™ £5000 is to be available as a grant from the National Koa Board for the sealing of Kaimanawa Street. ■ It is to be hoped that the whole ot these amounts wiH expended during the financial yeai on street sealing. If tfll are so spent, it is possible that the streets sealed may includej addition to Kaimanawa Street. the business area streets betvjfl Tongariro Street and Ruapehu Street, and Ruapehu Street uj| the "Spa Road; Heuheu Street and Mere Road from Ruapg Street through to the Lake Front highway, and Rifle Kajg Road from the Lake Front toward Taharepa Road. VYhileJ| amount of sealing will help to reduce the dust nuisance, it|j still leave much to be done. And beyond this looms the lurtjl neeessitv of the water supply scheme. Consideration ot UJ facts in'dicates that Taupo, in common with other towns wHj development is taking place in this era of high costs, hastoM i t h 0 necd for hig'her rating'.