BOROUGH MATTERS.

Taranaki Daily News, 1 December 1919, Page 6

BOROUGH MATTERS.

(To the Editor.) Sir, —When reporting to the Council on Monday, the General Manager, apparently to impress upon councillors the necessity of looking into Borough afl'airs, has put matters in as bad a light as he could. With this I have no special quarrel, except that it gives the impression that I left the Council with finances in a weak state, and the Works Department somewhat tangled. I cannot agree that such is the case. I have not the detailed reports, so can only write from memory. Take "Table A".—Though the works were authorised, that does not mean that they would be carried out immediately, or that all could be during the current year. In giving the financial position, allowance should have been made for this. It is probable that at least £2OOO would not have been spent under this head. £42,000 and £3,000. —This deficiency was known to councillors some time back, but with more necessary works to do this year, there was little or no possibility of more than the £1,300 at&ilI able being spent. Allowance should, | therefore, have been made for another £2,000. Tram Route, £2,000, has no right to be placed on the statement at all, as at the time the report was written, the Council had not even considered the matter, let alone authorised it. The statement in tfie report shows a Dekit balance of £13,462 but deduct Tram route not authorised .... £2OOO ! Table A. Amount work authorised, but not likely to be spent by 31/3/20, £2OOO t Amount in £42,000 loan not likely to be spent by 31/3/20 £2OOO £6OOO so that there is a debit balance of £7,462 only, without the electric light transfer. This is not a very alarming position when it is remembered that plant to the value of several thousands has been provided for out of revenue. The General Manager has put down the full liability, but for public intormation, being his first report, should have stated what he expected the actual disbursements would be and made allowance accordingly. He should not have tacked on £2,000 that had yet to be authorised, for the whole report has given the impression that the Borough finances are not too good, which is unfortunate, and is not correct. I am in full sympathy with the stopping of work and concentrating, but I cannot agree with the course proposed. The tram route has always been faulty, and although admittedly in a bad condition, cannot get much worse during the next six months if the worst parts are looked into, because there was more than ample depth of metal put into it, but in the case of the streets that are tar-scal-ed and t require their coat this year, oniy a thin coat of metal has been provided. And if these roads—Avenue, Tukapa, Prankley—are not done this summer, then they must suffer severely during the winter. There are other streets, such as Carrington Road and Vivian Street, that have been laid down for tar-sealing, but have not had their first coat. If left over the winter, they, too, must suffer severely, and instead of one bad road, the tram route, we shall have half-a-dozen. It was definitely stated, when tar-sealing was adopted, that proper maintenance would be kept up.—l am, etc., . C. H. BURGESS,