LOANS OF £20,000.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 233, 11 March 1915, Page 5

LOANS OF £20,000.

BOROUGH COUNCIL DECIDES ON LOANS. ' FOR TARRED MACADAM STREETS. AN INCREASED RATE. i'u. * All the members of the New Plymouth ia > Borough Council, with the exception of ;n " Cr Ambury, were present at the adjournad ed meeting last evening to discuss the recommendations of the Finance Com- , mittee. 1 n The Mayc* who presided, considered , e . that it would expedite matters if the clauses were dealt with seriatim, and this course was adopted. The majority of the clauses were passed with very little discusion. The two principal clauses, viz., the proposcd'incrcase in the general rate and the loan for street works, etc., evoked some discussion. The first to be dealt with was the "s PROPOSED INCREASED RATE, io e - This clause read: "That in order to "• provide -the funds necessary to prevent "■ further increase of liability in the general account the incoming council be recommended to levy an additional 3d in the £ for general rate; that in addition to such increase in the general rate an hospital maintainence rate of 2d in the £ be levied separately." In reply to a question by Cr Kibby, as to what would be the total rate to' be levied, the Mayor stated that the general rate would be Is 4d, the hospital rate 2d and loan and water rates would i- be the same as at present save that t an additional rate, equal to about (id, h would need to be collected to pay inter-' i- est on the loan of £42,000. Cr Kibby remarked that it practically i- meant'an additional lid in the £, i- The Mayor stated that Hie Finance Committee recommended an increase t of 3d. Ratepayers were already liable e for the interest on, the £42,000 Joan. G Cr Johnstone considered that the interest on the unexpended portion of the t loan which was at fixed deposit, might be utilised to .pay the interest 'on the j loan, and so reduce the rate for a year or two. The town clerk pointed out that this iifoney could not be utilised to pay the , interest, but provided mo;e money to be : r expended with the loan money. Cr Clarke stated that the position as • it appeared in the paper was liable to ' 1 mislead the public. They did not want ' to give the public a fright and make them think that the Council had squan- ' ■ dered money right and lett, because that I was not so. - < The Mayor: They cannot get that im- ! pression if they read the papers intelligently. Cr Clarke congratulated the Mayor on bringing down the proposal to levy an additional rate. It was necessary to stop the drift, though he could assure councillors that the money had not been wasted. The mistake had been that councils would persist in executing newwork out of revenue. He pointed out that the drift had started from the year 1907-1008. In that year the Coun-' cil ended up with'a credit of £SOO but ' lie pointed out that the Council had'that ! year, through adjustment of rates collected £4478 from this source, as against : £2980 in the following year, so that } on that basis, they were really £7OO E to the bad. During the six refers under ' discussion, £22,302 had been collected * in general rate, and £7299 had been ex- ■ pended on new permanent works out of C revenue. £3089 on hospital levy £I9OO I for fire board levy, £1520 for parka etc. £1235 loss on the baths, and advances to " trains £943 (which would he paid back) T This meant, of course, that the streets 1 had had to be starved. Save for about- r £I7OO, the whole of the £7299 for new permanent works had been expended in " the six years from 190S to 1914. The '•" first permanent work had been done out r Of revenue in the late Mr Tisch's time g viz., at the Gill street bridge. Had the ° various new works been done out of loan money the present Council would ? not have been faced with the necessity *' of increasing the general rate, but rate- c payers would have been paying rates on r the additional loan. Practically no new ,° work had been done during the vear 1913-1914. The position to be faced ,° was that if the Council intended still to execute new work out of revenue, the ex- c tra rate would have to remain. If, how- u ever, they dropped that system, this § extra rate could be taken off in three years or so, as soon as the ba,nk over- ° draft had been reduced. ° Referring to the proposed rate of 2d h for hospital levy, the Mayor remarked 8 that it was not fair that the general ll rate, which was supposed to be for the s maintenance of streets, etc., should be * depleted to the extent of over £7OO, the ]l amount of the hospital levy. It would s considerably ease the position as re- 8 garded the general rate. e The clause was adopted. i; THE PROPOSED LOAN. h (The next clause that created some dis- ; eussion was "That the Council take the cl necessary steps to provide by way of loan the cost of making a permanent street from the Waiwakaiho bridge to c , Morley street, and from Devon street to Moturoa railway crossing, and also such other streets as require to be made ac- ' cording to the schedule supplied by the borough engineer, also for culvert in ° Brougham street, a museum building, {; and a destructor." Referring to the loan for the permanent road along the route of the tramway,'the Mayor stated that this should have been included either in the tram- r ways loan or in the £42,000 loan. When C the schedules of roads requiring renewal . was being prepared, it was recognised that it was useless doing anything to c that length until the trams bad been c completed, because in the course of the tramways construction, the road would ? be knocked about and a lot of money ' would thus have been wasted. It should have been foreseen that it would as a ! natural consequence become worn out. } This had not been done, and the Council was now faced with the position ? of deciding how to re-new the road. Tiie ' borough engineer estimated the cost of the whole route, a distance of about J live miles, in soltar macadam at £IO,OOO. " The engineer stated that the road J would be laid the same as Carrie street, vi>:., six-inch foundation of boulders, J then six inches of broken metal, it * would be sprayed with soltar before A blinding, and again after blinding. n Cr Kibby pointed out that for the r past three years the policy of the Coun- c cil had been to spend nothing on the ll route of the tram unless forced to. He R thought the money saved in that way should have been put aside to be utilised e in renewing the street. He did not know where tile monev saved hart gone to. Cr Clarke: The councillors have not r had it." f The Mayor said that the road had to ] lie renewed. The question was whether j they wore going to recommend the pro- ( posed permanent road, which required ~ little maintenance, or a cheaper mac- n "dam road of short life and expensive j upkeep. In either case they could not r

do without borrowing, as otherwise the overdraft would he increased to such an extent as to endanger their finance. The Council should always be in ta position to go to their bankers and get £SOOO or £6'ooo if an emergency arose, 'flic other streets referred to in the proposal would cost £SOOO in soltar or £3300 in ordinary macadam. The culvert in i. Brougham street, a very necessary work, would cost £2OOO, and the destructor £IOOO. This was now very necessary, and he felt sure that the revenue to be derived from it would he quite sufficient to pay for the upkeep and more than pay the interest on the loan. Referring to the museum, lie pointed out that it li was only at the urgent appeal of the ,f Council for time to erect a suitable - building, that Messrs Skinner had agreed e to withhold the disposal of their fine . collection of curios. He thought that for, say, £ISOO a suitable addition j might be made in concrete to the Care negie Library Buildings. 1 Cr Sykes favored making permanent v Devon street as far as Cutfield road, and ' f thence along Cutfield street to St. Aul byn street, because he felt that the nare rowness of St Aubyn street would drive t nil traffic along Devon street. , Cr Smith referred to an experiment that was "to have been made in a concrete road in the borough. The engineer said that concrete was the best, but was far too expensive. Cr Smith considered that they wanted ) the best possible street for all time, and : so should go in for the best possible sv- • tern. J i The engineer estimated the cost at i £*),000 if the road wore laid in con- ■ crete. I Crs Sykes and Jackson were of opinion that the road as recommended and constructed by the engineer was the most i suitable. They had closely examined and tested the work, and were quite satisfied with spraying. The Mayor remarked that the borough, engineer's method had been adopted by one of the tar-preparation companies in their specifications. Cr Collis considered the loan was a rate saving proposition. Some little discussion ensued on the ■method to be adopted on the side streets, councillors being in favor of permanent work. Cr Sykes moved that the tarred macadam be continued, along Devon street, and Cutfield streut. Cr Collis favored leaving this work unt.l after the other had been laid down, when ratepayers, realising the benefit! might adopt a mor u comprehensive scheme. The engineer stated that the extra cost would be £9OO, as Cutfield street metalling was provided for in a previous loan. The amendment was carried, and the Council then adjourned, to meet again as soon as the various proposals had been definitely ascertained, so as to arrange for placing the loan before burgesses on the 28th day of April, the date on which the election of mayor : and councillors takes place.