CORRESPONDENCE

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 243, 20 February 1911, Page 4

CORRESPONDENCE

THE BOROUGH LOAN. '. il: To the Editor. Sir,—As we will be asked to increase our borough debt by over til,ooo ott Tuesday next it might be well to inquire as to the munner in which we ought to act. The first consideration is, will the money be well and economically spent? If the last loan is a criterion, the answer must be an emphatic "no." Take the I'owderham street culvert arid the Vivian street culvert Both culvert* span the same stream, and so close together that there can be no increase in volume of water worth considering, yet the arch alone of I'owderham street culvert cost over £I2OO, while the total cost of the concrete work of the Vivian street culvert as it stands, arch and wiag walls, was £4lO. Although the Vivian street culvert is not a« long a* the Powderham street culvert, I ask the ratepayers to compare the quality of work and length of arch, and they will be able to sec the approximate loss they have sustained. The next point to consider is, are the estimates, for the different streets reliable and can the work be done for the money we are asked to vote? This 1 very much doubt, as the engineer has been charged with having exceeded his estimates given to the Council for" street work by the greater part of £IOOO each year sincu he has had control, while the general opinion is that the streets and footpaths are in a worse condition now than they, were then. Hut 1 think the most important consideration of all is, can the borough afford it? Some short time back you dealt with the borough finances, and as 1 have not seen your figures or arguments questioned, I assume they arc correct. There you stated that when the mayor took office the district fund account' was over £2OOO in credit and that nearly £I7OO of electric light revenue was transferred to the same account and yet there was an overdraft at the bank of £l6B to the debit of the fund at the 31st of March, 1910, that is in two years, showing that there was* over £4OOO in addition to the ordinary revenue, which had increased by about £3OOO since the mayor took office two years ago, and you expressed the opinion that the borough was not getting value for this money. The point I want to draw attention to is that in the last estimates the mayor expected an overdraft of £IOOO at the oank by the end of the present financial year, and as it is clear this piling up of the overdraft cannot be allowed to 'go on, it follows that an extra rate will bo required to meet our increased ordinary expenditure, and 1 think that is quite enough-, to face, and the amount of it should be ascertained before we undertake the additional burden of a further loan.— I am, etc., RATEPAYER.