Wairararapa North County Council.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume IX, Issue 2872, 13 April 1888, Page 2

Wairararapa North County Council.

Estimates and Works for 1888-89. Report of the Committee of the whole Council appointed to consider the Estimates for road maintenance as prepared by the County Engineer, for the year ending March 31st, 1889. ' The Committee having examinee] the financial position of each Riding and tlip estimates, jjeg to make the following recomm'ondations; General Rate. That a general rate oi one-eighth of a penny in the £ be struck over, the

whole County, such rate not to provide for contributions for which the County may be liable under the Hospital and Charitable Aids Act. Forty Mile Bush Tolls® ' That the balance to credit Of the. Forty Mile Bush Toll Fund, £258, be allocated between the Pahiatua, Alfredton, and Masterton Ridings on the basis of the length of road to be maintained by each of the Hidings, the proportion being as follows: Pahiatua £llO, Alfredton £llO, Masterton £B3. Alfredton Riding. That as the' requirements for maintenance of roads in the Alfredton Riding amount to £534 2s, while the amount to credit is: share of toll fund, £110; Government Grant, £4O; Balance from 1887-88, £65; Total, £215; which leaves a deficit of £319 2s; to be provided for as follows.: £18519s 2d to be raised by a senate rate of nine-sixteenths of a penny in the £, and the remainder, £IBB 2s, by overdraft to be charged against the Riding. Pahiatua Riding. In the Pahiatua Riding, the amount required for maintenance is £270 6s, while there are the following amounts to its credit: Share' of Tolltfiund, £110; Balance from 1887-88, £™los; which leaves a deficit of £144 16s. To meet this, it is recommended to strike a separate rate of three-eighths of a penny in that Riding. Masterton Riding. That the requirements of thei Masterton Riding amount to ,£1203 lis 6d, the credits ,beiug: Bhare of toll fund £B3, credit balance, from 1887-8 £293 9s 6d, Wainuioru Riding £l4 2s lOd, total £340 12s 4d, leaving a balance of £852 19s 2d to provide, such amount to be raised as follows: Ist. From a separate rate of a farthijpg which will yield £4BB 17s 4d. 2fri, By a contribution from the Wainuioru riding, such riding to be relieved from the maintenance of the portion of the Masterton-Waimata road between the Kahaumingi bridge and the Blairlogie road junction. 3rd. A deficit of £95 6s 5d to be providod by overdraft.

Wainuioru Riding. • That the amount required Jo. the Wainuioru Riding is, interest w portion of £2500 loan, £75; contribution : to Masterton Hiding for road maintenance £278 16s, total £353.165, and' that to provide this sum a separate rate of live sixteenths of a penny be struck. Caselepoint and Akitio Ridings. That the interest £IOO on portion of £2,500 loan paid by the original Castlepoint riding in future he paid as folio .vs: Castlepoint £BO, Alritio £2O, and that the Akitio riding also contribute a sum of £4O towards road maintenance in the Castlepoint riding Akitio Riding. That the requirements of the Aldtio Riding are: Maintenance, £150; contribution to Castlepoint Riding, £4O; interest, £2O; total, £2lO. To provide this sum it is recommended to strike a separate rate of five-sixteenths of a penny in that Biding, Akitio and Aoiionga FebSl. That in future, any profits arising from the Akitio and Aohonga Ferries be devoted in the first instance to paying expenses of the maintenance of such Ferries, and any surplus to be devoted between the Hidings through which the Masterton-Wainiata Road passes, such division to be apportioned according to the length of road in each Biding. Publicans' and Slaughter-House . LICENSES, That the proceeds of publicans' and slaughter-house license fees, after deducting advertising and other charges, be not allocated for expenditure present, but he retained to meet contingencies that may arise, such as contribution to charitable aid, etc. Castlepoint Riding. That the amount required for the Castlepoint Riding is:—Koad maintenance, L 873; interest on L 2500 loan, L 80; Manawa bridge interest, Ll7 10s; rent and insurance, Jfc 13s 3d; Dr. balance from 10s lOd; total, L 1255 14s Id. The credits being-contribution from Akitho riding to pay portion of interest, L2O; contribution towards maintenance, L4O; total LGO. This leaves a sum of L 1195 14s Id to provide. It is recommended that a rale of fiveeights of a penny in the £ be struck, and as this, with the general rate, is the rating limit allowed by the Act, and as there will still be a deficit of LSSG 4s Id to make good, the Castlepoint Boad Board be requested to help the County by striking such a rate as will assist to meet this liability; or, failing that, the Board take over the maintenance of tli3 Tinui-Eketahuna road, from Tinui to the Waitawiti bridge. The Council is compelled to make this request, as the riding,, through the action of the in no longer paying rates on Crown and Native lands, and the reduction of subsidy, loses a sum of Cd. The Committee further diiw'the attention of the Council to the losses of revenue from the above sources, and points out that it is the cause of the deficit in the Masterton and Alfredton ridings, and the reason that there is no reduction in the rates for the " ensuing year, T. Mackay, Chairman.

At 1 p.m. on Wednesday the Council resumed its ordinary meeting, when tho Committee's report on the estimates and works for the coming year, as shown above, was adopted and its recommendations sanctioned. Paiiiatua Main Road, Action regarding the petition from tho Pahiatua Town Board for the Council to hand over to them control of the road passing through thaLtownship, was postponed till next vffling, the clerk in the meantime ttrsee if there is not a clause in 'the Public Works Act to meet the case.' Charitable Aid.. It was resolved, on the motion of Cr Ragg, seconded by Cr von Reden, that the local bodies in the Wairarapa that have to contribute to the United District Board under the.Hospital^

Charitable Aids Act be asked to cooperate with this Council for the purpose of effecting separation from the ijflVelliiigton district, and that the clerk instructed to communicate with those bodies, and that this Council suggests a conference to meet in Masterton on Ist May, to discuss the question, the chairman and Cr Meredith to represent the Council. Pahiatua Receipts and Expenditure. The following motion by Cr. Crewe, lapsed for want of a seconder: " That a statement of the Pahiatua Riding account be prepared and submitted to the Council, such statement to contain all receipts and expenditure within such Riding sinco its constitution, in accordance with Clause 146 of the Comities Act." The Chairman, in alluding to the JL ab°ve motion, said that it was impossible for the Clerk to compile such a statement accurately: it could only be an approximation. No separate rate had been levied in the Riding, and consequently there was no separate account. The proportion of the general rate paid by Pahiatua was absorbed for general purposes, and it would be impossible to pick out the tfAemsof expenditure from it. The statement that could be prepared was similar to the one the Clerk had already made. If there were a balance due to tlio Pahiatua Riding, under separate rate, it should have been adjusted at the time when the Pahiatua Riding was separated from the Alfredton Riding, The Council then adjourned,