BOROUGH FINANCE

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 275, 11 April 1911, Page 8

BOROUGH FINANCE

THE YEAR REVIEWED. ; Last night being the final occasion on h winch the present Borough Council would ineet, His Worship the Mayor (Mr. G. Tisch) made a few remarks on i the financial position. At the commence- <_ ment of the financial year, it was esti- i mated that they would end the year ( with an overdraft of £IOOO, instead 01 j which it was slightly over £IBOO. This \ increase was largely accounted for by i the fact that sundries, which had been < estimated at £IOO, actually took £320, 1 the increase being principally made up j of £55 for five years' back interest on I Gill street yard, the Racecourse Bill £42, tramways report £4O, two visits' of the Govcror and proclamation in con-1 nection with the death of King Edward, i : £37 10s. The Gill street extension had I also brought up the overdraft consider-' ablj\ When the question was mooted some years ago the land could have been purchased for £3OOO. On this basis a loan of £SOOO was raised. The land, : however, actually cost £3BOO, and thai raised the total cost to £5718, so that not enough had been borrowed. Theyl would, however, all recognise that a good work had been done. Powderham! street had cost £3075, and for this £3OOO had been borrowed. Then again, £157 had been spent on Clemow street which had not been anticipated. Thei stables, which had been estimated at £IOO, actually cost £220. while £81; had been spent on the reserves in grubbing, ploughing, etc., more than had been allowed for. An extra £lßl had been spent above the £950 estimated for water works. The new Gill street main, and lowering the main on the Old Hospital road, accounted for a consider-1 able portion of this. The sum of £328 had also been re-imbursed to the Electric Light account. The Electric Light account had cleared £IBOO. Had the] Council annexed this, as previous councils had done, they would have wound up the year clear. They, however, could not eat eat their cake and have it too, so the £IBOO remained intact. The Mayor said that £2388 2s fid had been spent on streets. He had got the en-1 gineer to itemise this, and it showed that Currie street extension had cost £IBO, Queen street £llO 14s, St. Aubyn street £350, Young street £lB, Devon , street west £42, scavenging £384, watering streets £ll6 Bs, general re--1 pairs and up-keep of streets, footpaths' . and gutters, £IOBO 5s 4d. During the year the following metal had been been 1 placed on the roads:—Crushed metal ; from the abattoirs, 1000ydsj gaol -metal,) 1 1139 yds; and gaol gravel, 908 yds. Some 3000 yards of good metal had thus been ; put on the streets, at an average cost of • 7s per yard. It was satisfactory to know that such a large amount of metal ' had been laid down. During the year s the revenue had been buoyant, but as the expenses were more than eorrcspondingly high, the new Council would I start with a debit balance of £IBOO. , _ Cr. Wilson said the statement was an interesting one, as it showed that the } whole of the new work had been done B in the West ward. Two items on the estimates, however, had not been gone 3 on with. These were the Hobson street g culvert and the groin on the beach. The former had been on the estimates for e three years, and would have to be spent e this year. He honestly considered the 0 erection of the groin would be an experi--3 mont well worth trying, as the cliffs g were steadily eroding. He would also I, like to see the new Council bear in mind R a piece of concrete kerbing that was 4 required urgently in Devon street beyond Elliot street, to save the asphalt n breaking away. He considered Devon 0 street kerbing should be attended to be- ,| fore the side streets were kerbed. ; Cr. Gilbert asked if in some parts r the erosion of cliffs had not been r checked by a chain made of old horseshoes. f The Mayor remarked that the metale ling of St. Aubyn street was absolutely necessary, as the metal was completely e worn.

Cr. Browne, chairman of the Electric Light Committee, stated that the actual profit of the Electric Light Department was £ 1800 4s Id. lie congratulated the Council on the way in which tile department was forging ahead. Despite the introduction of Osram lamps, the revenue had not only been maintained, but had increased by £494. Ihe Mayor said the report was satisfactory and proved what a good investment the Electric Light Department

J Cr. Clarke said the town and the town clerk were to be congratulated • the fact that for the third year in succession all the rates and rents had been collected. He considered more . metal should be put on the streets than [ was done at present, for £2200 was not [ enough, at least another £IOOO being I required. He considered it a pity that , the extra 10 per cent, had not been, borrowed on the (Jill street £SOOO loan. I , It was unjust that the retiring Mayor , should have to leave a debit balance', . £IBOO through no fault of his own. 1 . Next year the overdraft would probably' be bigger, as there would be extra exi penditure. He considered the Council i should strike a separate hospital rate, even if the general rate were reduced accordingly. The ratepayers would then! know what went for that purpose. When 1 the amount of new work was deducted from the expenditure, it would be seen; that very little remained for the upkeep of 32 miles of streets. With regard to concrete kerbing, he considered it was j lIs t that it should be done out of , ' oan money. The Council should not , endeavor to do this work out of rev-! enue. It was new and lasting work, and i far less permanent work had been done' P l out of loan money. I / The Mayor said that he had this in! [ his miners eye. In fact, he intended ( raising the extra 10 per cent, on the' recent £11,500 loan fpr concrete chan-' r nelling. Cr. Wilson, however, did not consider [ this could be done, as the extra 10 per , cent, could only be raised to complete , the work for which the original loan ' [' had been raised.