BOROUGH FINANCE.

Taranaki Daily News, 10 April 1922, Page 7

BOROUGH FINANCE.

ESTIMATES DISCUSSED. PROVISION FOR THE YEAR Estimates for the current financial year were submitted to the New Plymouth Borough Council, sitting as a fin. ance committee, on Friday night, and were adopted after some discussion. The following is a summary of the estimates, the figures in connection with the previous year’s estimates being given in parentheses for purposes of comparison:— Receipts: Electric light profit, £l6OO ( £4500); Government subsidies, £450 (£450); licenses £l6OO (£1560); rents of reserve and beach cottages, £2900 ( £2900) ; reimbursements, street maintenance,- drainage fees and allocation of accounts, £22,200 ( £15,100); general, dog tax, baths, fees and fines, £530 ( £445) ; sanitation rate, £2550 (£2170); general rate, £13,200 ( £11,900); transfer waterworks, £5OOO. Total, £50,070. Expenditure: Debit balance at April 1, £918; office, £1415 (£2440); streets, £38,400 ( £27,654); reserves, £750 (£1390); subsidies, £2s®o (£2230); sanitation, inspector’s department, £2550 ( £2180) ; drainage upkeep and extensions, £9OO ( £700); baths, £3OO ( £500); Waiwakaiho bridge, £2OO ( £50); Fnankleigh Park loan subsidy, £360; extending septic tank effluent pipe, £1306; total, £50,070. A statement of the district fund account, as at March 16 showed a credit balance of £8485. An endorsement stated that had temporary advances, amounting to £1250, been refunded, the credit balance would have been reduced to £7235. LIST OF SUBSIDIES. The usual list of subsidies to local institutions which is included in the estimates is detailed as follows: —Fire Board, levy, £1200; seaside committees, £150; Pukekura Park Board, £250 > Western Park Board, £75; Carnegie Institute, £750; Technical School, £25; Royal Live-saving Society, £l5; Taranaki Rifles’ Band, £65; Domains, £5O. The amounts are the same as allowed for last year, with the exception of the Fire Board levy, which shows an increase of £475; the Domain vote, which is increased by £25; and the Carnegie Institute su’bsidv, which is reduced by £l5O STREETS MAINTENANCE. In the course of a report dealing with the estimates, the borough engineer, Mr. W. H. Cook, stated that it . would be advisable to make allowance for additional surfacemen. He stated, inter alia: With the great and rapid extension of building during the last 18 months in most of the outskirt streets, it has become necessary to extend operations farther out from the centre. From appearances it would seem that very many roads must now be allowed for. This it will be impossible to do without making allowance for an addition to the number of surfacemen, and, of course, the extra | haulage to deal with, the gathered matj erial and rubbish. There are approxi- : mately 72 miles of roadways, out of which it can be said 12 miles are not yet formed, and another 10 miles roughly formed but not metalled, leaving some 50 miles of metalled roads, a great proportion of which are still unkerbed or channelled. Without going ’ closely into details, a rough estimate will be about five miles of metalling allowed for in the unraised loan.”

Mr. Cook stated that if all formed and unformed streets were to be kept in a ‘clear and open condition jt would< take at least from 12 to 18 men. Tn the estimates submitted, eight men instead of five were allowed for, allocated as follows: —Central area, three men; breakwater and Fitzroy areas, each one man full time and another half time; Vogel, town and Weetown, each one man. To cope with the demands for keeping, repairing and re-gravelling paths, it had been deemed necessary to make more ample provision for this item, as also for repairs to metalled roads. The approximate amount allowed for was: Cleaning, 17s per chain over 50 miles; scavenging, £2 7s 2d per chain over 10 miles; road repairs, 15/6 per chain over 20 miles; path re-gravelling, etc., £3 per chain over 3 miles; cleaning side roads, 16/6 per chain over 4 miles. It had been frequently stated the coast road cost £28,0 per mile to maintain; this was £3 10s per chain. The estimate submitted shows from 21s to 36s per chain less than this amount, outside of scavenging and upkeep of paths, of which there were very little, if any, in the country. It was thus seen that no excessive expenditure was asked for, more especially when the contour of the town, steep gradients and heavy rainfall met with, were taken into consideration. (ELECTRIC LIGHT DEPARTMENT. The receipts are calculated at £31,3.10, the principal items being sale of light, heat and power, £22.500; sale of goods, £4000; reimbursements account, £500: estimated amount of stock, £4OOO. The following items of expenditure were allowed for: Reimbursements, repairs, etc., £900; power house machinery attendance, £980; meter reading, £275; sub-station machinery attendance, £370; private lighting maintenance, £1000; stock, £3200; stores, £5000; management—Supervision £339, su'b-station office (including charges by town clerk) £1100; interest and sinking fund £5610, additional interest new loans say £3000; depreciation, reserve and re. newctls, £3600; construction and private lighting connections £2000; extensions of mains, C 1000; total, £30,425 10s sd; leaving a balance of £B®4 9s 7d. The tramways estimates were held over with a view to including provision for the purchase of another electric ’bus, if arrangements can be made.