BOROUGH FINANCES.

Taranaki Daily News, 3 May 1916, Page 6

BOROUGH FINANCES.

TOWN CLERK'S STATEMENT. In his annual report to the Council, the Town Clerk (Mr. F. T. Bcllringcr) writes:— 1 propose, as in previous years, to set out as briefly as possible a statement of the receipts and expenditure for the whole of the account of the borough, and afterwards to deal a little more exhaustively with the figures relating to the District Fund Account, more especially those relating to the General Account.

RECEIPTS,

Credit balance April 1,

EXPENDITURE.

DISTRICT FUND ACCOUNT.

In dealing with this account, it "will be advisable, for the purpose of comparison, to also set out the corresponding figures for the previous year:—

EXPENDITURE.

GENERAL ACCOUNT. , To ascertain the true financial position, however, careful consideration must be given to the Reneral Account. This account sets out the figures relating to the general revenue of the Borough, including the general rates and also the expenditure incurred in the administration of the Borough and the upkeep of its streets, se#ers, reserves and endowments. Last year's report dealt very exhaustively with the position of this account for the past eight years and the recommendations submitted by the Finance Committee with the view of placing matters on a more satisfactory footing.

An examination of the statement discloses that the year opened with a debit balance of £5422 16a 4d, and closed with a debit balance of £4138 12s !)d, a reduction of £1284 3s 7d. The receipts totalled £15,770 8s lid, as against £13,510 5s 3d for the previous year, an increase of £2200 3s Bd, which is accounted for by the increase in the general rate, totalling £1207 2s Sd, increase in license fees under the Borough By-laws, £25!) 2s, increase in amount received for reimbursements £1!)44 17s Id, less a decrease of £1146 13s ad in the amount received from transfers and refunds from other accounts.

The expenditure totalled '£14,486 os 4d, as against £13,363 4s 8d for the previous year, an increase of £1123 0s Sd, To ascertain the actual amount expended on streets maintenance for the year it is necessary to deduct the amount received for reimbursements. The following figures set out the position as compared with the previous year.

MARCH 31, 1915.

MARCH 31, 1916.

From this it will be seen that the streets expenditure for the current year lias amounted to £3ll 10s 6d less than for the previous year. Looking move closely into the account it will be found that of the total expenditure of £4920 9s Sd on streets for the year, £3145 5s Id was expended during the first six months, and the balance of £1775 4s 7d during the remainder of the year, and further analysis will disclose that the expenditure for the first quarter of the year exceeds by a very large amount the expenditure for any other quarter of the year. For many years past the experience has been the same. In the beginning of each year money being available, works in many case 3 not of an urgent character are pushed ahead, with the result that in the closing months of the year there is no money available for even the most urgent works. The result of the present system is that the roads are necessarily to a large extent starved during the summer months, and the bulk of the maintenance work carried out in the winter. The district fund account at the beginning of the year had a credit balance of £2182 7s 6d. It has now a debit balance of £5923 19s 7d, that ik to say, for the three months over £BOOO has been paid out over and above what has been received. The fact that there is a fairly few .SWi'**' ft * *•.

year would not of itself cause any anxiety, as the bulk of tlie revenue, i.e., from rates, does not come in to any

great extent until tin; month of December, and I'or some months the Borough has always to'carry on by overdraft. A glance at the returns, however, shows that the estimate fur streets, labor, metal, maintenance, etc., was £4200 for the whole year, whereas £2083 lias been expended in the first quarter, being at the rate of £8332 a year. If the expenditure be continued at the same rate for the balance of the- year

the result can only be disaster. In addition to the over-expenditure of street votes, the Electric Light Department lias been drawing very heavily on their accumulated balance in the District Fund and the result is a very heavy debit balance. Letters were addressed to the Council, after which the weekly expenditure was materially reduced.

FINANCE GENERALLY. Before concluding this portion of the report it may be useful to set out What I consider to be the outstanding features of the financial operations of the year: (a) That, notwithstanding the financial unrest caused by the War", the Council were able, on satisfactory terms, to dispose of in New Zealand at par the whole of the debentures in the Streets Improvement Loan of £22,000, and the Museum and Municipal Buildings Loan of £6,000 bearing interest at five per cent, per annum.

(b) That, in accordance with the agreement entered into some time ago, the Bank of New Zealand took up at par the whole of the debentures (bearing interest at five per cent, per annum) in the £55,000 Tramways Loan, and of the £5500 Supplementary Tramway Loan.

(c) That, as set out in last year's report tha Electric Light Department, having taken over the whole of the expenditure on the Substation building and Substation equipment, and the tramway construction work being now nearly completed, the £60,500 loan raised should be ample to complete the installation, and that it should not be necessary to raise any further money for this purpose. (d) That the £22,000 loan raised for metalling and soltarring certain streets and erection of destructor, etc., will not be anything like sufl.cient to carry out the work originally contemplated. This is due to the fact that the construction of the streets comprising the tram route has cost considerably more than was anticipated. Steps are now being taken to raise an additional ten per cent, of this loan, but even with this supplementary loan the money available will not be nearly sufficient.-

(e) That those stiftcpts which it was intended to wholly reconstruct nnd for which funds are not now available were allowed to become almost completely worn out, and a very heavy strain will be placed upon next year's revenue to place them in reasonable repair again. (f) The object of the readjustment and increase of rates adopted by the Council last year in order to prevent further increase of liability in the General Account has proved much better than was anticipated. The annual estimates provided for a reduction by £SOO of the General Account Debit Balance. The actual reduction has amounted to £1234 3* 7d, representing a rate of 3d in the £. Talcing into consideration the fact that the hospital maintenance levy in former years was paid direct from the General Account, whereas this year a special rate of 2-Jd in the £ was struck for this purpose, the increase of rate imposed by the Council affecting the General Account amounted to 51d in the £. Of this amount 3d in the £ has gone to reduce the liability of the-ffen-eral Account and the balance of 2Jd in the £ has been absorbed by various expenditure in that account. (g) At the end of last year a resolution was passed by the Council directing the attention of the Carnegie Institute Committee to the fact that there was a direct loss on their operations and requesting them to submit recommendations to reduce such loss. Nothing definite was effected in this direction with the result that the debit balance Of this account has increased during the year from £2(10 0s 5d to £423 lis 7d. (li) The recommendation nf the Council that the fees in connection with the Cemetery be increased was given effect to in the new By-Laws with the result that the revenue received was sufficient to meet all outgoings. The annual grant of £IOO to this Committee should now be discontinued.

ESTIMATED REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE. The following is the estimated revenue and expenditure for the ensuing year:—'

Receipts.—Government subsidy £450, under Licensing Act £30,). under Borough By-laws and Auctioneers Act £550, rent of reserves £SOO. rent sf Avenue Road Reserve £l5O, Town Hall and Fitzroy Hall £.10; reimbursements, streets £GOO, horse fodder account £SOO, waterworks £ls, drainage fees and extensions £OO, abattoir shave office expenses £25, tramways share office expenses £SO, drainage agreements £SO; Fire Board £lO5. dogs £l3O, baths £l5O, Carnegie Library £l3O, pound fees £25, sundries £125; water rate (domestic supplies) £IOOO, extra water rates £2OOO, sanitation £llls, 10 per cent, penalty on rates £SO, general rate (Is fid in the £ on £101,712) £7627—total, £1(1,711. Expenditure.—Office: Salaries £I2OO, clerical assistance £25, Mayor £l5O, audit £SO, sundries £3O, advertising, stationery, etc., £3OO. Labor, metal, tar preparations, plant materials maintenance, asphalting and tarring, £5070; hor.se, eart, and forage account £1254; rent borough yards £37, lighting streets £940, toby boxes foi standards £SO, borough engineer and staff (proportion of salaries) £4SO, sundries (stationery, etc.) £125. Reserves £l5O, 'Fitzroy Hall £lO. Town Hall £l3O, Carnegie Library £250. Subsidies: Levy Fire Board £575, levy Pukekura iPark Board £l5O, Western Park Board £SO, Library £125, Technical School •£25, Citizens' Band £3O. General: Sundries £l7O, valuations £25, bank interest and charges £250, general inspector's office £250, sanitation plant £SOO, sanitation inspector's department £940, sanitation inspector's office £175, post office clock £3O, pounds (New Plymouth and Fitzroy) £2O, electoral roll £l5O, licensing £SO, drainage upkeep and extensions £3OO, drainage agreements £SO, elections £6O. baths £275, dog collars waterworks and extensions £OOO, Waiwakaiho bridge £7Ol, Henui Bridge (Junction Road) £IOO, purchase railway land £473—total, £10,711.

Loan Accounts ...-»..., Tramway Working A/c, District Fund A/e ,...,., ,.. 33,439 1 ,« 89,295 14 344 8 ,-=, 39,213 5 3 5 9 9 :£162,312 10 2

Tramway Working l/c.< 333 0 0 District Fund Account .. 39,327 2 7 Cr, balance March 31, 1916 47,800 9 11 :£162.312 10 2

1915 1916 Cr. 'balance 2178 16 2 Gen'l Kates 5421 19 0 6580 17 3 Water Rates 3776 17 9 4125 17 6 Licenses .... 919 17 9 1174 19 9 1O01 6 0 1011 4 2 Reiinburs'ts 2124 14 3 3270 15 3 151 1 9 198 1 10 Gen. Receipt? 1075 17 2 1093 8 3 Abattoirs .. 1702 19 10 1756 15 3 Interest A/cs 7378 12 10 7714 6 0 Cemetery .. 3S7 14 4 <49S 13 8 Hospital Rate 1032 2 11 Eleetric Light 'U325 13 U 10,256 16 7 Trara'y Working A/a ..., 201 IS 6 Sundry Separ» ate A/cs .. 1331 19 11 297 8 4 '£33,599 0 6 41,392 1 11

\ 1915 1910 Dr. Balance 467 15 A 1415 19 11 ■1589 3 6 Streets . , . 6022 15 4 7538 18 9 Street Light. 920 0 0 920 0 0 Reserves, Town Hall, etc... 793 9 9 709 17 3 Subsidies and Levies .... 903 10 10 1075 0 0 311 19 4 193 9 9 Waterworks 794 5 1 1555 * 1 Waiwakaiho Bridge ... 10 10 0 220 10 0 Purchase land 451 11 6 497 ! 17 6 Hen. Inspector, sewers and sanitation 832 5 7 799 11 5 Gen. Expend. 1165 1 4 119512 7 Abattoirs .. 1538 3 8 15S3 10 11 Interest A/cs 7203 4 4 7981 2 7 Cemetery .. 324 10 4 360 11 3 Hospital levy 789 5 0 990 S 0 Electric Light 7059 0 10 11,583 5 7 Tram'.v Working A/e ... 221 IS fi Sundry Separate ' A/cs.. 430 lii 2 ' 331 0 11 Cr. Balance . 2178- 16 2 2004 19 4 £33,599 0 6 41.392 1 11

Streets expenditure Less street reimbursements £0012 15 4 780 15 2 £5232 0 2

i..ess streets reimbusements »•.....*• £7546 12 ? 2628 9 9 . NE4920 9 8