THE COUNTY FINANCES

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 295, 8 December 1908, Page 4

THE COUNTY FINANCES

CKmUSM BY CUL'.NCIhLUU .GARTER.

XfIJE HENUI BRtiJCK Yesterday a deputation wailed mi tin.' (Juuuty Council to cuter a orou-ot against the notice of motion, puolisiied a lew

days ago, lo rescind the resolution authorising the Council to proceed with the erection ol a ferro-concrete bridge over the llenui stream on the Avenue road. The deputation comprised Messrs A. Morton, representing the Mangorei Dairy Company; and Messrs. f. Uledliill I and i'. Houlihan, cli-.tiriucn respectively of tin.' Mangorei and Waiwakaiho Road Boards.

Air. Morton said he-bad come at the wish of the directors of his company, the shareholders and suppliers of which practically represented tile dairy farmers in the district between Xc-iv Plymouth and within two miles of ingiewood. To block the erection of the bridge would be a great hindrance to the prosperity ( if tin- district. His directors looked upon the work as most necessary, for the bridge and its approaches, on account of the steep grades and sharp turns near the bridge, were perhaps the worst part of tha

county roads, The trallic on ihe road was daily increasing, and the road had a large 'sharp of the motor ear traffic, lie believed that the plans prepared by .Mr. John Skinner provided tor shortening tiie road by some 24 chains. With the improvement of the grades tne suburbs would certainly extend ill that direction, and the valuations would naturally and rapidly increase. Air. (ilcdhdl couldn't imagine what

motive Cr. Curler-mil fur opposing til progress uf this work, which all th settlers agreed wa-> necessary. .Mr. Houlihan thought the motioi quite a mistake, for there was grca ued for improvement. The deputation remained to hear th discussion upon (Jr. Carter's motioi which was to rescind the resolution o August 3rd last, authorising the ercc lion of the bridge in ferro-concrete The mover, in opening, said he desirci it to be distinctly understood that h< was nut antagonistic to the bridge, bu lie thought the di'iiiiliit : i<ii had quit' failed lo grasp tlu 1 position of th Council's funds. |[.. quoted a resolutioi of June lilli, 11)11-1, in which upon lb' motion and llle casting vote of Jlr. 11 Okcy, it was decided that the bridge loan should be allocated to the riding on a valuation basis. That loan \va of £14,740. At that time the Moa rid ing, with a valuation of £598,09], wu entitled lo £5945 out of the loan; Wai tara, £410,519 valuation, Jt;4OG7; Oaku 111, £477,928 valuation, £4728. Bu the bulk of the bridge loan had no been expended until comparatively re cently. On the basis of the valuation now, the allocation would be as follows -Moa, £810,728 valuation, £5959; Wai tara, £399,113 valuation, £2912 Oiuata, £804,237 valuation, £SBOO. S that, even on the most favorable basi iMoa hud already had £1195 more tha; its share; Waitara £323 more, am Ouiala £1328 less than its share. Ac cording to the treasurer's estimate thi Council would have on 31st .March nex an overdraft of £4042, and there wa no provision in that estimate for th metalling uf the Oakura Hill, decided o: at the morning meeting. He poinle out that the strongest reason ior hi motion was that the Council had boi rowed only £1301) for Die bridge, wire the engineer's estimate was £2501 That estimate allowed only £SO for th acquisition of the necessary lands, an they already had claims in the ollic for £IOO or over. That brought tli'i total to about £3OOO. Taking as basis of calculation the eost of bridge erected so far out of this loan, tta Council would probably have to face a: expenditure of £3500 in connectioi with this llfiuii bridge when it was al completed. That meant that the C'oun cil would not be able to carry on itordinary work of maintenance, and ccr tainly not lo provide for any cxtraord inary demands, lie believed this bridg was very necessary, but the Counci could not all'ord to proceed with it fo the next twelve months or two years It would be more manly on their par lo linish up present contracts and eiea oil' liabilities than to go on incurrm; fresh ones in a way that must end ii bankruptcy, or rather iu the appoint incut of an ollicial receiver. He pointei out that before the Council could pro cced with the bridge, if they were de termiued lu do it, it would he ■neecssiu; lo rescind the resolution passed by ill Okey's Council, and which he hail pre viously referred to. (So far the Moa rid ing had had £7140 of the loan, Waitar. £4200, and Omata €3400. He couli not see how in fairness the .Moa ridin was entitled to still another slice. (Jr. Andrews seconded, lie thought i was "time to draw the line, and t> square up the liuaaces." Cr. Tate was sorry that he woul ha\e lo support the motion. If it wer not carried he would propose one, witi the same object in view. He had ever; sympathy with the deputation and will" this work, more especially as he hat been county chairman when llle lirsl steps wrre taken. The funds at thai lime warranted Ihe undertaking of [lk work. But unfortunately the largi works carried out since that time had entailed a subsidiary expenditure of €32511 out of the general revenue, to complete the works. Apart from that I heiv had been extraordinary demands on the linances, until now the position was such that the Council was not warranted in expending a £5 note moro than was absolutely necessary to keep Ihe roads o|„.„. Ij 0 referred to his position ;,s councillor some 15 years a»o when the county funds had undergone" a depression, which necessitated iortni"7ity meetings of the Council. Thev bad been unable lo pay the foremen, and Hie members had to forego their travelling expenses. He did n „t want a recurrence of those conditions. He estimated that, after providing for ordinary maintenance, and undertaking this ITonui bridge, the Council would at this tune next year have an overdraft of £aflo2. The Council had suffered the loss of £2.500 annual revenue hy the formation of the. Tnglewood and Waitara boroughs and the Fitzroy town district and the loss of (he Carrington. tranklcy and Elliot road districts hesides incurring fresh liability on account "I the new riding. Hoad maintenance was every year becoming more ■expensive as the settlement brought inereas- j ?d traffic. Tl behoved every councillor o use his utmost endeavor to get the Inanoes into a healthy condition. At, ill events, let lliem get the 31st 0 f March over, and some rates in, before ncurring frc-h liabilities. lint if they vere going lo plunge into this Heniii indge contract what would the Moa idmg overdraft he? The coimlv overdraft that day was £5005 2s. ' ' Cr. Hopsnn: And vou voted £sfln his morning that you needn't have nted.

_ Cr. Tate said thai tile Oakiiva TliU job was started, and had lo he finished. Tliis Kenni job was nol vet started As ~howin<r the state of llin eoniitv funds lie staled tint ITioy had cheques writfen a-.id idafed in Ihe safe, for flr-v rouhl no! he eashed. O. llopsoi, was snvinise,| to hoar CV Talc's remarks nir (lie (inmipo of (he louned. and r,-. f'.nvlev l ln ,l .rnl hohl of an entirely wron? i,1 G .., j„ ~,,„„,.,( , n ~,,, ■ridge loan account. Tf he 1 „,,,„,, „„ . tie ordinal records. ],., would find that (he loan was a count,- 1,,,,-,, ;,„,| , |m | ~ vi'liil" loan: Ihe rate ~ level eounly rale. and nol a ~;,]!„„ ~„(,,. T | 1( , nm _ pnsals n(. (Ire li, lu , of raisin,, |1„, ] mn '•" f "vr«':I lo lliirloen 1,,-hV..-, ;., |i„, \.„., *" : ' 1: ""' dial lie„,l„,l j„ l.„ ~„ eoinlnicled Had lllev 1v.,.., onvled'' \'o Tl „' '•''•" ""»<"'> 1- Air f„Her 'co:,cornin'l. ," »"'■'« ! "" «■:,« nolhia, 11 was nol ""* '"' v " v "'lend,,! |„ 1„. alh„,,l"d'on ' ' b,.is :,l „],. re!oi,('im' f "'' : Y "' ''"" V " ! ''' l "" ''"' f'r. Hops,,;,: Yes, T voled a-ain'sl f'r. Carle,-: So you knew it cxMcd, then?

< r. Ilnpson prolcslcd (Iml, tin. Moa iKlin.i; liail not had more than us i„,r "hare ( ,f tli,. |„an.

Cr. Carter: Yon yet all tho nioiicv. "'• pay all I lie rates. O. Ifopson contended Unit Cr. Caller would find l.y searehinjr the ininiiles lliat Hi,. Moa ridiii;; was entitled to ' ■<■ Ulan it liail received. Whilst lie was not prepari'd to v,.t« Hint the uorh he ion a will, at niicc. he could not '•i-i- fhnl. it was riidil to introduce sui-h a nioiion as Cr. Carter's.

'"r. 11 =ll s«id he had ahvavs hcen lohl ;haf Hie bridge loan was not a ridiii" a.n'air. Mr. 'iL-.-v's .-coin! ion had he n In ..i-veiit. ,o,f,iv „ll„rs, linn.

Cr. Andrews iini|..vsio n ,| (Ik- aHHiide ■-■' C.-s HoMsmi Mid Mill, for had II "■■' '' h'e lion's s|, r „.„ „f ||„, |„,,.., ? !!.■ li.ol ahvavs „„i„,, | „ r ~,„, m „; "'"' was "i" ml lo he :ilinealed on a ridiii!.' 1.,-isis.

r... 5i..v....s cpi.5i.1..,.,.,! (I K , ni n|;on was "iHv,.vnnl...d. TCad (here linen a inovo 'n r-.n lon.l-.-s fn,. Il,„ w nrk nf ereefin" n,-> i„.;,i„ n ;, „.„„),, i,., vp ~.„„ „ (linv ,, en' matter.

ft: farpeiilpr Hiniiohf, (lie Council wunU be wise to straighten up its fln<

ances before incurring any big Kahili ties.

The chairman said lie had do fear of I the ■ bankruptcy predicted l>y (Jr. Tate. The Xapuae and Oakuia drain on the finances would not be recurring, and tlio bridges lately erected were' of a permanent nature. The tightness 01 the, funds was due partly to the fact that the money borrowed' for tin- bridge* had ol'lcn been insufficient, and the gonI era] m-counl. had to supplv lire deficiency. Tii-ii the Miingauiawhclc and I Waiongoim bridges had been erected in nnlicipalion of a promised loaa, which, I the Treasury later refused to issue. This money, however, would be forthcoming, I and the funds would look belter. It was rather late in the day, ton, to bring up Ihe manner of allocation of the loan, now thai it was nearly all. I spent. Tie regretted the raising of the '■riding cry." The councillors were here to conserve tile in!crests of the whole

county, not for their particular ridings, lie could assure them that as long a» lie was there he would not allow the Henui bridge to be. undertaken till he

could .see where the money was coining from to pay for it. lie could have started it two months ago. for he had the authority. He would not allow the money allocated for that bridge to be spent elsewhere. Cr. Carter, in reply, said lie had not intended to raise the riding question. His figures had don;' that. But he might tell them that tin- feeling was. strong outside that the Moa and Wai- ] tarn members had looked after the interests of (heir district, whilsL Oakura had neglected theirs. Cr. Hill: While they were chatting we got the bridges. Cr. Carter: 1 am afraid that is so. He was surprised that Cr. Hopson, should have repudiated the Council's own minutes.

Cr. Brown said that it had evidently been the intention of that particular Council to allocate the loan as stated. The Council divided on the motion: Ayes: Crs. Carter, Andrews, Carpente" and Tate; Noes: Crs. Brown, Stevens,' Hopson and Hill. The chairman's casting vote was given against the. motion, which was declared lost. CR. TATE'S MOTION.

Cr. Talc moved another motion lo the effect that all works in progress in the county he stopped. He explained that in effect it was the same a's Cr. Carter's.

The motion was seconded by Cr. Carter, and lost on the same division.