COUNTY YEAR

Wairarapa Times-Age, 24 May 1939, Page 3

COUNTY YEAR

ACTIVITIES OF MASTERTON COUNCIL SATISFACTORY FINANCIAL POSITION. REVIEW BY Mr J. C. D. MACKLEY. ‘•The credit balance in the revenue accounts of the council at March 31. 1939, totalled £147 16s 4d. as compared with a credit balance of £494 6s 5d for the corresponding period last year." stated Mr J. C. D. Mackley. County Clerk, in his annual report presented to the annual meeting of the Masterton County Council today. “The total revenue from all sources amount to £61,784 9s Id, as against £67,567 14s Id, while the expenditure for the same period totalled £62,295 19s Id, as against £70.516 10s 5d in the previous year, making a total’ turnover for the twelve months under review of £124,080 8s 2d.

“The financial figures are satisfactory as far as they go,” states Mr Mackley, “but the moderate amount of the surplus in the revenue accounts was brought, about by several of the ridings being permitted to over-spend their anticipated revenue for the year. A large proportion of this expenditure was required to meet .increased wages and other costs thrust upon the council during the year, but nevertheless, some works were authorised for which no financial provision had been provided. In recent years, the council has not attempted to budget for a large surplus, being content to divide expenditure between general purposes, riding requirements, and various special county works, or in other words, to provide for its ordinary obligations and engagements out of revenue for each year, taking the view that there is no real justification in extracting from the ratepayers in any one year, more than is necessary to provide the liberal services which, in its opinion, are necessary for the district under its control. This has been made possible by the introduction of a more scientific method of up-to-date cost accountancy, but as I pointed out in a previous report, to live within its income, the council must exercise a substantial measure of budgeting or financial control over all its operations in any year, and only in the case of exceptional circumstances or emergency, would a departure from the normal programme provided for b'e justified.” The position of the riding accounts at March 31 was (last year’s figures given in parentheses): Opaki, credit, £ll3 15s 6d (£605 2s 9d); Rangitumau, credit, £334 17s 6d (£163 5s 2d); Upper Taueru, debit, £419 Is 8d (£lB3 6s 9d); Te Whiti, debit, £322 4s 5d (£606 8s); Uriti. debit, £451 Ils l'Od (credit £lll 14s 2d); Waii’uioru, debit, £lll 8s lOd (£164 19s sd). The aggregate debit balance of the riding accounts was £855 13s 9d, the position being £7Bl Is 8d worse than that of the previous year.

REVENUE AND RATES. The principal items of revenue for the year were: Rates £25,165 (40.7 per cent); rate subsidy £2,500 (4.1 per cent); main highway subsidy £14,545 (23.5 per cent); heavy traffic fees, proportion, £1,315 (2.1 per cent); heavy traffic fees, allocation, £8,300 (13.5 per cent); motor spirits taxation, £478 (.77 per cent); employment subsidy, £269 C 43 per cent); metal sales, £2,097 (3.4 per cent); miscellaneous, £7,112 (11.5 per cent). The rate revenue in relation to total revenue showed an increase of 7.1 per cent over the previous year while subsidy from the Main Highways Board declined by 1.3 per cent. The percentage of rates collected at March 31 was 97.7. The increase in rate levy over that of the previous year amounted to £2,341 11s 9d, accounted for as follow: general and interest rate £1,757, hospital rate £441, water supply rate £142. A statement in respect to general, hospital and water rates showed that at March 31 the general rate was 18 per cent less, the hospital rate was 80 per cent more, the water supply rate was 33 per cent more, and the total rate levy was 6 per cent less than at the corresponding date in 1928. The rate levy per £l,OOO of capital valuation in each riding during the past two years was (figures for 1937-38 given in parentheses):—Opaki £5 6s 2d (£4 17s 8d); Rangitumau £5 13s (£4 17s); Upper Taueru, £6 3s 8d (£5 13s); Te Whiti, £5 7s lOd (£4 Is 3d): Uriti £7 4s 5d (£7 9s 2d); Wainuioru £7 4s 7d (£6 13s lOd). The average rate levy per £l,OOO of capital valuation for the year ended March 31 was £6 2s 2d, as against £5 11s 2d the previous year.

ROAD WORKS. The total expenditure on the- maintenance and construction of all roads, including main highways, under the council’s control during the past year totalled £33,063, as against £41,353 for the corresponding period last year. Of this total, £15,800 was expended on maintenance and £17,263 on construction. The figures for the previous year were £17,313 and £24,040 respectively. Details of expenditure were: Maintenance, Riding roads, £8,084, main highways, £7,727, total £15,800; tar sealing, Riding roads, £1,084, main highways, £6,207, total £7,291;' deviations and new metalling, Riding roads, £2,163; main highways, £2,734, total £5,008; bridges, riding roads, £2,082, main highways, £2,882, total £4,964; grand total, Riding roads, £13,413, main highways, £19,650. The subsidies received from the Main Highways Fund, the Public Works Fund and other contri-, buttons made in respect to the above work totalled £17,258. the proportion provided from the council’s funds amounting to £15,805. Of the total net cost to the council, £15,630 was provided from revenue and £175 from loan. A further 4 .miles 78 chains of roads were permanently surfaced during the year, making the total length of sealed roads in the county 37 miles 38 chains (State highways 14 miles 60 chains, main highways 18 miles 13 chains; ridings 4 miles 45 chains).

WERAITI HILL DEVIATION. Thp report goes on to refer in detail to the Weraiti Hill road improvement work. This work was virtually completed at March 31 and reduced the length of road by 50 chains. Owing to the slow progress of the work by day labour and the resultant high cost the council decided to complete jt with the use of machinery. It was shown that with 27 men, only 108 cubic yards of earth were handled per day, the cost per cubic yard, including cartage, being 4s 9d. The excavator handled about 200 cubic yards per day at a cost of Is 8d per cubic yard, a saving of 3s Id per cubic yard. The actual machine cost per cubic yard against the cost by

manual methods was a saving of 65 per cent. It was estimated that the gross saving on the estimated cost of £10,812 would be £l6OO. Reference was made to the shifting of the Ngaumu Road bridge by Messrs MeCalmont Bros, its successful accomplishment being a masterpiece of engineering achievement. A total of 13,036 cubic yards of metal were ciTished at the various county depots during the year as against 18,796 last year. The metal sales amounted to £2,097, compared with £2,638 for the same period in the previous year. The value of metal crushed and spread on riding roads and main highways was £2,589 8s lOd, as against £3,173 15s 6d last year.