BOROUGH FINANCES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 8060, 14 March 1906, Page 3

BOROUGH FINANCES.

Till'] MAYOR'S STAT KM JOT. Al tin- Borough Council m.vliii.Mi Monday night the Mayor (Mr |{. Cock) presented n shlrooni of I lie Borough finances, lie said reports had recently boon current by street corner "scallywags" anil newspapers lint (lie Couiu'-il had been carrying oh vcrv foolishly during till' last throe vcars. ||. was nothing tu-vv lor liim to have the clilur ol Ibat newspaper down on liiin, bul he thai bo liad not been fairly treated. Exception .bad been taken to the proposed expenditure of .fcUODO for electric light extension. The expenditure, however, was absolutely necessary. On account of (lie price of copper having risen, the Kledrio Lighting Committee bad gone fully into the question, and it was likely Ibat less would be obtained Iban was originally intended, and the expenditure would probably not exceed £IOOO for j immediate requirements. Some years ago the ratepayers authorised loans for works aggregating £88,0(10. of ', which £3OOO was for baths, £lB,llOO ] streets, £27,100 water-works, Clo.ooo : drainage," and £9OOO for electric light- ' ing. The loan for the baths had been over-expended by £353. That amount ■ was provided for during last year, having been paid out of revenue, so (hat ' the bath account liability was practically closed. Of tin- £IB,OOO for ■streets, the money had been expended i less £2Bl. The £27.1 mlhe walerworks (which included the second loan) ' had been practically spent, and the i works paid for with the exception of ' some minor legal expenses. The loan ' bud bci>iiovnrcxpcndcd by £3113. There , bad been a great deal of lalk in conneciion with that contract, lie could , not allow Ibat Hie present Council should be blamed. The old Council \ had done ils best, and engaged Mr ' iUcslayer, who was supposed lo be one ot the loading authorities in the col- i ony. "It is through Iheifailure of our , advice that we lind ourselves m the i position we are in as regards our water department." (Hear, boar.) , The Council had been assured j that they could recover £ISOO , (at £5 a day for every day the contraitor had exceeded his contract j time). The Borough Engineer (Mr GibbensJ advised the Council to lake the contract away from Ilie contractor, • and to undertake the completion of Ihe . work themselves, but the Council did not think that was advisable. The ■ Council had maintained two foremen at the works, expecting that they would be recouped from the payment of the penalties. The Council now knew that they had no chance of recovering any(biug from the contractor, simply because the contract hud been enlarged, When the contractor was given extras io do, the extra time for completion should have been specified. [f it hud been, (lie Council could have recovered moneys for the delay in (he completion of the works. It was a not very serious item, however, as the contractor's price was £SOO below the next lowest lender. Of the £IO,OOO drainage loan, £B7O was still unexprii , ded, and wo/ks in that connection were still proceeding. The eleitrio light had eausud a good deal of trouble financially. There, again, they had lo blame the engineer. The previous * Council had been advised that the money was ample for the work. When the second loan was raised, the engineer assured them that £H,200 was ample for the work. Up till now the sum of £11,0(17 had been expended on the scheme, lie did not consider thai the further sum of £2IOO, proportion of the cost of the water works tunnel, , should be charged to the cost of the electric plant. Taking all the figures i together there was a credit on the loan j account of £2.000, but when all (he liabilities existing have been paid, the Council would be £1025 short, providing the £1133 authorised al last meetin : was expended. In round figures the Council would lie £IOOO short on the whole of the works. Ife could get short dated debentures-f.,r that amount at It per cent., and with the scheme he bad in view, be believed I he Council would be able to save £SOO a year lo liquidate the £lOllO debt, without striking any extra rate. Willi an amalgamation of the ollicc- Mali' and other Council olliccrs, to'.io at !ca.-l could bo saved. AVbiil.heiiskeil, bad I lie Council to show for the expenditure of all the money i J He claimed they possessed up-to-date baths, .second lo none in the colony. They had water-works slljch were the envy of many much larger towns. The town had a total indebtedness of t!)7,0(l I costing only ft 14)0 n year, so he did n„l think il was badly oil. The drainage scheme, costing £IO,OOO. would, when completed, be a credit to the town They had yet to ' learn whether the £2,000 paid for land iuv the septic lank, and also the cost of the lank, was a failure. IE the drainage had been run out to : s(.'i).. the money spent on the tank and land vojild have gore a long way in extending tk>> drainage area of the town. Jle was »a|ijied the electric light, during the lirsl yea? .ending 31st March, 1007, would more thai, pay working expenses, He esjinaled the revenue would amount lo £I,OOO, and as the estimated cost of running two shifts (according to Air Mestuyer's estimate) would be £750, the sum of £250 would be available towards paying intermit, Thoughthc scheme had cost a considerable sum of money, he believed in the long run il would come out alright. Dealing with the esiimnlf.'i] receipts , and expenditure for next year, ending [ 31st March, IW7, he submitted the following figures which he had computed : Estimated receipts:- Government subsidy, Mls; licenses, (hotels elc ), L:)ss;'licenses, (boreugh by-laws and auctioneers), LUm ; rents, reserves, LIOO: ro-imburscmciiLs sireds, IiliiO; water services, LSO ; dog registration. LIOO; rent town hall. £l2; sundries, I.Uli Iwlhs, WOO; electric light, l LltliiO; special 10,1 rale. 1.2250; water I rate. L 750; extraordinary'water supplies. 1,1000; 10 percent on rates, LHJ ; general rate, is lid in the £, 1,1-725; street encroachments, Jjs'» : üb:il!"irs. 1/711; Taraaaki County Council. Lion ( lulal, LI 1,81>3. lie bad worked out the cxp ■ndiliiro to keep il within income, and he estimated £I3OO for labour, which this voar had cost £I!MJ-I, heavy storks of metal having been laid in. Tor metal ho estimated £I2OO. for which iu l!io:i I only £202 was spent, lie all-,raled til 10 for 0-bauucllii.ig, £250 to pay interest on proposed debenture:-, and £7O increase on the Mayor's honorarium iu order to allow of pavilion! nl

aeerued iiitol'c.sl promised un the Tmtn Clock Fund (.1:225). Interest was set du\vn at JMLOO. There was praetieaily CIOW nW'e t» provide l Ins year oul (if rile Jji-inira! iliTuupt ill iiilL-1-L-sl, than during 111'' year. Tljcdilure, cm Ills eslimalcs, miiild iji-! eneal tin* revenue, and I Isf po-ilii.ii would mi! he s" l' !| d nl tl.'' i-nd of I In l !year. In eoiieUiili.'i!; In- 1 atl'lm-in i!uliliivor said 11•' should -1.1 n ii | tliu t'ljunei! and st'i-n an<>ih i- i' ; *, il o i,"ul uot. JjUi-'ii !»r tin' cKtM.«m* «i»ii expressions iii' luidheard. Jl ' admiiii-d tliat lie had taken sonic of lhe*'l-ile-jnents lo lifarl. Jiveii his ivilV ha.l jiW'boon immune i'lvml cr'iv l . l ' In l referred us an instani-e l*> Hi wi people who Jiinl said it wa; " a dUi;raee to the town" l<> have llu? Maynrw* takili" nai't in a certain procession with the voiiui' people. Wen il m>! ' 1 »' <ui'li"«riti«i»nt, lie should b.m- HMt'» stay itud see the Council •«* t.l it» li'oiililvs. As he lVss shortly g.mig out uliillice, lie elaimeil he M as ji.'stilicd in ' presi'iitiiK a iialiinee-sheel. ispi'rialjy I when he i-o«ld show the position »a----i much belter than had !"vii stated.