The Daily News THURSDAY, DECEMBER 10. TARANAKI COUNTY FINANCE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 297, 10 December 1908, Page 2

The Daily News THURSDAY, DECEMBER 10. TARANAKI COUNTY FINANCE.

In t'onmion with other important lota! bodies iu tliis province. tlie Taranaki (,'ounty Council limls itself forced into a policy of, if not actual retrenchment, at least extremely prudent finance. Actuated by ilie best of intentions, that of replacing worn-out necessary bridges all over tll<' county with permanent but costly structures, tlic Council, as events have proved, proceeded at too great .1 pace, with t'he result that too heavy drain, has been placed on current revenue. It is dilHcult to say exactly how | that could have been avoided. After tins bridge loan had been authorised, works were proceeded with, and the nionev drawn upon as the works progressed. In several instances, however, the aniuunt allocated from the loan tor specitic works proved to be altogether inadequate. For instance, CIMO oi loan money was apportioned for the Tapvu\e. and the work has actually cost C3USO. the dill'erence, of course, having to be met out of ordinary revenue. Kimiliirlv 11201)0 was drawn from revenue ! to meet t'lie cost of the Oakura bridge i ami deviation. Also, to instance the Waiongona bridge, in the Mo;i riding ! which has had the lion's share ot lh* j loan nionev. over CliOO had to be drawl. \ from revenue.

Naturally, such heavy demands 0,1 the ordiu-iry resources of the Council could nut go' (in indefinitely, ami tho crisis hits 111.) w lif on reached. 11m obvious deduction to lie drawn from actual experience is Hint the bridge loan was 100 small, and t'lial too ambitious a |Jr<>-grammc-wns einbarktd upon. The position regarding tho lleiiui bridge on t'' ll Avenue lioad. which was authorised in August, is that £ISOO of loan money should be available for the purpose. Lt is certain, however, that the total cost of the work will not be less than £3OOO, so at least another £1301) would have 1.0 be forthcoming from another source. W.hilo the necessity for this work is acknowledged. it should be perfectly obvious to ratepayers Hint it cannot, for some time at least, be proceeded with. As a mutter of fact, were if not that the Council lias been enabled to use temporarily in its general account £IOOO of the bridge loan allocated lo the Ileiv.ii bridge, the Council would to-day be in the unenviable position of being unable to pay its ordinary wages account. The bank limit of overdraft is £8,03!), and had the Council not transferred £I,OOO of loan Hiowv to general account (an amount that will have to he refunded before, ihe end of the financial year), the Council, would to-day be some £SOO j or £ til 10 over t'he limit; in other' Words, the bank would probably have decHne..l to honor the Council's cheques. And ratepavers should not forget that tlieie are still four mouths of the .year to run.

The statement submitted to .Monday's meeting showed the position very clearly. With the .Lalllt voted to complex the works at Uakura (where nearly £3(11)0 has been lying idle for some considerable time) it will bring the Council's liabilities at 31st March next to over £14,000. The. estimated revenue from rates and all other .sources is put. down at £0.84'.), leaving an overdraft, when the year's revenue is practically all in. of between ,t;4,OtM) ami Co,1)00. It must be remembered that no provision is made in the above estimate for any further contract* or metalling, but merely for the ordinary upkeep of the roads, l'roni these ligures it is shown that for the tirst ten mouths of the next year the Council will have considerably less than £4,<KKI to spend (bank overdraft at IS per cent..), which will not be snllicient to carry on the ordinary maintenance works in the county. With a decreasing revenue, accounted for lnaiulv by tlie severance of town, borougn. iiud suburban districts from tjie county, it is pertinent that the Council should exercise extreme caution and set its house in order before attempting any new works.

l'rielly, the position is, therefore, that there is not sullicient ways and means available to barely carry on ordinary administrative and maintenance works next veav. The outlook is certainly an unenviable one under the. most favourable circumstances, Should, however, the winter prove 'an unfavourable one requiring heavy road works, or should, on the other hand, the Council be faced with such an unfortunate, contingency as the collapse of a bridge, the position cannot be viewed without serious apprehension. Meantime, the Council must face the position, which tlicy .seem not to have realised until absolutely compelled to. Either more revenue must be raised, or less work done. Anv proposal to increase the rates is certain to be met with hostility. I nder the circumstances, however, we. cannot see that any serious objection could be raised to tile Council levying the bridge rate oil the' special loan, which is al present paid out of general account. By this means the Council could improve its position by .L-IW. There still remains the absolute necessity of electing several bridges, particularly in the Mon riding. As it is quite out of the question to erect any of the.se out of revenue, at least for some years, it seems to us that ratepayers in the Moa riding would be studying their best, interests by considering the raising of further loans, or making a separate rate for .special bridge work iu defined areas as allowed bv the Act.