BOROUGH FINANCE

Taranaki Daily News, 12 October 1915, Page 6

BOROUGH FINANCE

STATEMENT BY THE MAYOR. | THE EXPENDITURE ON THE STREETS. "MOST UNSATISFACTORY LOAN" An interesting statement concerning the financial position of New Plymouth was made by the Mayor (Mr. J. E. Wilson) at the meeting of the Borough Council last night. Mr. Wilson said that as that was the last occasion on which he would preside over the Council he would like to make some refereiloe to the financial position of the borough, and set out the position in which he leaves the Council. At the outset of his remarks Mr. Wilson referred to the estimated receipts and expenditure for the year ending March 31, 191G, and he said the receipts might be expected to realise the amount estimated. On the expenditure side the first item which struck one was that for general maintenance, which was estimated at £4200, out of which £3890 had been expended. It would have been apparent to everyone that the heavy traffic of stone cartage over a number of the streets must increase the cost of maintenance. This had involved an extra outlay running into several hundred pounds, and was the real reason of the deficiency. The position, however, was not tliat the Council had only £3OO to carry on for the remaining six months. Under the heading of receipts, reimbursements, streets, estimated reimbursements amounted to £SOO, but tliey had actually reimbursed the sum of £1472. Allowing against this £250 for half of the estimate there was, in addition to the unexpended balance of estimated expenditure, £314, the sum of £1222, a total of £1536. The reason for the extra reimbursements was that a gv«at deal of metal had been supplied for loan works from the Council's crusher, the cost of procuring this being charged to the ordinary account and then recovered from loan funds. He considered that the Council would be fortunate if, under the extraordinary conditions obtaining this year, it could carry out the street maintenance work without exceeding the vote to a material extent.

THE TRAMWAYS LOAN. "I .would counsel no curtailment of necessary works," added his Worship. "It is bad policy to neglect streets which by a moderate expenditure now may have their lives extended for some years, but which if let go will need remaking entirely in a. year or two. Moreover, it is unfair to the engineer who is charged with their upkeep, and unfair to future Councils who will have to undertake the remaking, and lastly the Council will not receive any thanks from the ratepayers—rather the reverse. Before leaving this subject I want to say that experience has shown us that it would have been greatly to the advantage of the Borough if when the Tramways I/oan was under consideration someone had gone to other places to learn what expenditure would Ibe rendered necessary by the laying down of a tramway on our streets. I I don't think any of the Council realised j what would be required in this direction. Instead of being for £55,000 for tramway work and plant only the loan would better have been for £90,000, to cover the tramway scheme and necessary road works and other expenditure jvhich the tramways involve. Such a loan would have enabled us to work the roadmaking in conjunction with the tramway laying, and have saved much i time, and, I think, would have been more economical.

WATERWORKS EXPENDITURE. "Another item in the streets department shows an expenditure for the six months in excess of the whole vote for the year, that of forage. War prices are responsible for this increase, and it is now costing us about 27s per week to feed each of our horses. The engineer has the forage question under consideration, but the expenditure will necessarily have to very considerably exceed the vote. Under the heading of 'General Expenditure,' the item of waterworks will be seen. The expenditure here is within a few pounds of the total year's vote. A dissection of the items, however, shows that reimbursements amounting to £227 are due to this vote and that the stock of material in hand exceeds in value tjiat in hand at April 1 by £lB3, leaving us £428, instead of £450, for the next six months. There is included in the expenditure already made the sum of £MO for pipes borrowed from loan stock in a previous year, which had to be replaced. This should, of course, have been debited .when the material was used.

WAIWAKAffIO BRIDGE. "The only other item in the statement to which I will refer is that for the Waiwakaiho Bridge. It was understood that the Public Works Department .would carry out the works necessary to ensure the safety of the bridge at a cost of £}oo, which was the amount given to the Borough Council and the County Council a year ago. The Department has altered its views a3 to what works are necessary, and now proposes to erect a weir at a cost ! of nearly £27(JO, of which this Council bears one-third. We had provided £350 on the original statement of the cost, but will have to find a further £550. This is a capital expenditure, and is too small for a loan even if that were possible now. The extra amount should be met by an extra rate, and not come out of the general fund. TRAMS READY NEXT JIONTH. "The tramways contractor expects to complete all his work by the end of November. A delay is possible if some of the necessary electrical plant does not arrive on time. 'War conditions in England have upset the routine of business, and deliveries of material are uncertain. I sincerely hope that this difficulty will not arise, and that we may have both the convenience of a tramway system and the revenue from its use before the holiday season comes. As to the financial position of the loan, the statement which the town clerk has laid before the Council shows that, after having made all allowances, the works will be completed at a cost of about £57,500, and that only a portion of the extra 10 per cent, on the original loan will be required. A LOAN CRITCISED. "Tire £42,000 loan, of which some £II,OOO odd was for waterworks, has not yet been all expended. The Council, • with a view to takina up available

labor at tlie conclusion of the tramways construction, suspended the scheduled works some months ago. No doubt these will be put in hand again when the street on the tramway route is finished, and labor is available. This loan I regard as one of the most unsatisfactory the Council has raised. The amount for waterworks was quite justified, and so were some of the items for streets, but many thousands of pounds have been, and will be, spent on making and metalling out of the streets which are not necessary and \fill not be necessary for years to come.' I am aware that these works were unofficially promised to suburban areas which

have been merged in the Borough, but I am afraid that even these works are not going to give some of the further parts of the Borougli the advantage they were led to expect. It cannot be questioned, I think, that it was a mistake to bring into the Borough some of the inland portions, both for tlie residents of those portions and for the remainder of tlie Borough. Fitzroy, St. Aubyn, and Moturoa, and portion of Vogcltown naturally belong to tlie Borougli, but the other portions brought in might well have been left for a few years. As it is, I. am afraid there will be disappointment on both sides."

MAINTAINING FOOTPATHS. In conclusion, the Mayor drew attention to the fact that it was proposed to expend £2973 for tarring and sanding footpaths, and lie said he hoped the Council would show its courage and say it was not going to expend this money, because the money would only be wasted. Tarring and sanding of footpaths was only a temporary work, and the Council would do very much better if they went in for some more permanent work. If tarring and sanding was done the work would have to be done again periodically, and it would not be as lasting as would a permanent work.

Cr. S. J. Smith said there was no question that the recommendations brought down by the engineer were very sound ones, and he hoped the Council would adopt them. Mr. Skitrop had informed him that if tlie Council got off with £IOOO or £ISOO above , the estimates, they would be very fortunate. With reimbursements, there would be about £ISOO or £2OOO to carry on with during the next few months. He was against temporary work, and wherever possible permanent work should be carried out. He agreed with the Mayor's remarks in regard to the £42,000 loan. It was incredible to Mm that intelligent men could have brought down such a schedule.