HARBOR LOAN BILL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 71, 13 March 1908, Page 2

HARBOR LOAN BILL.

Sill. NLWIUN liLNu AT OAKCKA. SUAiE LNTiillliSTliNU FACTS. HILL UNAiMAiObMA sUiTORI'tU

Air. Newiou King addressed a very rqirescutative meeting of Oakura rawpayers iu the Oakura Hall last evening, Air. I'. ,1. Alorris presiding. iti'. Xing pKlaced his renin >l* by .stating that the present jt2UO,W)H loan was maturing on Uth Alay next yea,', and had lo be dealt, with promptly, if the people were content to go along >:i the present lines, no Hill would be necessary. He thought he would lie able lo show that the improvement ot the harbor could be pushed on without the collection of a rate at all. ft would be purely a question of providing interest. The, prolits from the working oi the harbor and other sources had been devoted for a number of years to the harbor extension, and had exceeded the Hoard's wildest expeclatioes. Cutil this year they had had to contend with opposition, but he believed the opinions of the people in the town and country were undergoing a chance, lie did not propose on this occasion lo go into the question of n deep-sea harbor, and would eonline his remarks to the provisions of

The Bill provided for a loan up to .0)0,000, but he would point out that it was not contemplated to spend th.it sum. Power, however, was proposal to be taken to raise that amount if necessity should happen to require it. lie would prove, however, that it would be many years, if at all, before that sum would !*> required, lie referred to the three-fifths majority required for the carrying of the loan, and said he had not opposed the condition liecau.,e he was linuly of opinion that the proposals would be endorsed by the ratepayers. After touching on the dill'crontial rating proposals, he referred to the exclusion of Waitara from the rating area. Waitara, since tlie passing of the Waitara Harbor Hill, was liable for it., share ol the present loan lorn, and nothing further. When he had gone into the question of the liability of the various districts under the new proposals, he found that it would 1)2 necessary to level the existing level rate of %d over the whole district, including Waitara, to pay off the existing loan, if Waitara were included for its share of the old loan under the new proposals. For the additional amount proposed to be raised they would have; to take another loan. That meant additional expense and confusion of accounts. Apart from that aspect of the question, the Board practically lost n.ithing by the exclusion of Waitara. On the £300,000 loan, if raised, Waitara's share of the rate would only be l-2G:h of a penny in ine £, or an annual con- ; tributioH of £l3B. On the £250.000 there would be no liability at all. therefore in cutting the district adrift, tho Harbor Hoard was losing nothing at all, and not putting any additional burden on, the rest of the district. In this re- > sped the Hoard reserved the right under the proposed Bill to charge people \ not contributing to the Harbor extra \ harbor dues if it should be consider:"! advisable. Returning to the scheme, he estimated they could raise £250,001) at -1 per cent., and if raised on coupons the exchange on which would be about £IOO, the total annual charge would | be. CIO,IOO. It was generally admitted the money could be got at 4 per cent.; '. nut if that could not be done inimedij ately, short-dated debentures could be arranged with the hank. He estimated ' that during the first year of the term of the proposed loan not more than .C 17.1.000 would be required— £135,000 to pay oil' the existing loan and .€40,000 for expenditure on harbor works. From then ou the annual expenditure on the i harbour would increase until the whole • amount required had been raised. He then proceeded to show how the Bid i proposed the annual charges should be met. The first item proposed to be. earmarked was the land fund. 'That be estimated would produce £4052 at leas':, basing his figures on tile last available return, that ending 31st March la«t. The area of 0.1t.1'. land was 218.U7S . acres with a yearly rental of t'S!)7(i; L.1.P.. 22!»,(1M3 acres, annual rental £!>fi32. Twenty-live per cent, of the rental* was the property of the Harbor Hoard, and showed, as stated previous!,-, an iiiciinie from that source of £4052. Although only £3OOll was returned from land fund last year, the dill'erencc was accounted for by arrears collectable, ft was air-o proposed to set aside jx'rro.inently C2ODO annually of endowment revenue lo go towards interest. The present rental of these endowments was ClHB.}. The leases of a large portion of that land, occupied by himself and Air. Corkill were up, and'he might incidentally mention that the* lessees got no compensation and lose all their buildings. That land would b e resubmilted at a new valuation, and with other leases falling due within six years, would, lie estimates, on the then value*, bring in an annual revenue of £325(1, so the mo«t pessimistic of their opponents eoutd not cavil at £2OOO being set aside out of that amount. The next source of revenue was that from the port. It was proposed to devote £4500 from port revenue towards interest. Even after earmarking that amount, the Board, on the present basis of profit from the working of the harbor, would still have a net profit balance of £3BOI to do what they liked with. He wa«, however, desirous of taking cognisance of every possible contingencv. ft would be idle to say that the opening of the Main Trunk line would not affect the port earnings, but it would b c solely in connection with the passenger tax. It would not affect the cargo one iota. Let them, for argument's sake, say tint £2OOO would bc lost iu passenger-tax— : an outside estimate, and they would : still have a surplus of profit of £lBOl ' from the working of the port. The i provision to meet the interest charges, i therefore, on £250,000 could be sum- : marised as lollows: I

s Land Fund .. .. 4,052 ». Eudowmeuts .. .. 2,000 s Harbor revenue .. 4,500 ' .-. f . ' *11,15:J Outgoings ~ ... 10jl00 1 . Surplus £ i ios .. And that, lie would particularly remind them, without levying any rate at all. Coming to the uuestion of the co,t ot completing (u , | ulll)ur . n< , ~l id th . lt the late Mr. Napier Bell and Air. F. W. Marchant, live or six years ago, had estimated the cost of 'completing the breakwater wharf and harbor to admit .uige vessels, and giving a depth of iitt. woulu be .U42.717. Of the length .«1 mole then provided for had to be deducted lUDft since completed out of revenue, or 5501"t finished by ncxL yenat a cost of £41,250, and leaviu.1101,40, as the cost of the completed harbor, that amount would still ', 0 luuher reduced, howeier, as it was louud that the breakwater was being built much below the engineers' estimate. The jluft to be built after the [ proposed loan had been raised would cost .C 25 per foot less than the original estimate (based 011 the Hoard's present figures), leaving, in net figures the actual probable cost of the new harbor works complete at 1:88,717. The position, thcrelorc, was—

Imposed loan.. .. ojo/WU Cost of raising ~ i U;UUU hn , " •' " - 4U -' JUU j old iuilu ■• .. lJo.Ouu -Uollp available .. mm> oi, in other words, tUey could complete the breakwater and have Xi<J,m cor Uugenwes to come and go on, and Unit, lie impressed on his hearers was with out any rate whatever. lie intended, with other members, Irving to pnnc that J ion. Ist May, VMK , i 0 furlhe, late whatever'would be struck (V>plause.) ' Regarding sinking fund, he was per anally against it. Jn U H , Klst . ot - „.„',.,.„ ."el. as roads and bridges, liable to deii>, lie agreed they should have such a. I 'loviMon. 1,, the case of the mole, how. •ver. the work was becoming part ci '.auirc ilml ""liroving in solidarity with he yearn, and why, 1,, a»ked, should ll.f ," Ux °» ourselves for that

° , *■ l,L '- iuuuo: it, nowever, )t was the wish of the country io have a smking fund, S av '/.. per cein "'• Hioij, Unit amount could just about be squeezed in without calling o u a rate. J lis idea would be to set aside the whole of the surpluses for the purI pose in order 1,, p rovilll . Ulal ,i,e sinking lund would not become a tax ou the people. _ regarding the .auu.uOO scheme, the interest at I per ceut. would just equal the interest ou the existing loan at li '' per cent. After providing for the pay- '' ment of interest according to the fixed charges already outlined, there would require to be raised £l-125. spread over the whole country. Jiul even if that amount were raised, it would not be for five years at least, and with the increasing revenue of the past there was I 0

ma a lou 10 1 chance thai the. rate, c\cu on uie nm luuii, .would uc jrcquired, lie only needed to iiistuuco the lu 'gc o'' u »'ii "' naruor revenue to uiauc them realise thai. The revenue hud increased Hum .Co!«t> in IUU2 io .«.iU,til3 in luur.

At me aiu.vL meeting of the Uour.l | ui.-moers wuuiu nave to decide wheth--r Uie Jim vwi., in go before l'liiJiunu-iU. lieioiv iiie io.iu piuposula would be auii. united lu ino i-uiepii t iie inieiideil vi»iiii,y i-vt-r-. j_mi-t oi m-i diolnet and i-.\|iliim milt -iik.- itttvitutuges ol Uie port. Ja-loiv eouiiuiiiiig, ta said lie deaiiul iu inemioii uie euiilra scheme. Some "t l lie ralepaji-rs—and Air. Alarx, ,i, eautliiliile for ue vaeiim-y oil the Jioa.,l, \va» one ol liieni—took up the utlitule luiit tue.y should only hoirotv suiheieut to [>a.\ oil the exisliug loan, and stop mere, paying inu'ii-st on the old lo.m ol Cl.ij.OUU. iu that would have In be added ,UU,UiJU eosl of raising, maitin« the lotal .tlli.UOO. The annual nueiest charge would be iuB()U, less .WU.K! land Jiiml, leaving .CH'iS to come liom the jioekels of the rateimivrs. J'ius uie cost of collection, .Ciii", the tola l ii mount would bo and there would still be th-j liuliility lor uie level %d rate over the whole district.

Air. Allium asked why it was proposed to raise .C3UO,UUU, if £230,001) was sullicienl.

Air. King (.xpluiued that he believed the work would be done for £2130,000; but if by any chance, or through ii greatly increased trade at the port, they needed more money, they would have to j;o over the whole of the expensive work of raising another loan. Air. Adlam said he agreed, and supported the proposal. Air. W. 0. Maloiie also spoke in favor of the proposals. The chairman, Air. Alorris, move,],

"That this meeting of ratepayers approves of the Hill as explained by Ali\ King.'-' lie was sure the present Hoard would not waste the money, but would spend it judiciously and carefully. Air. Adlam seconded, and the motion .was carried unanimously.

Votes of thanks to Air. King and the chairman, on the motion of Captain Alaee, concluded the meeting.