CAMBRIDGE BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Waikato Times, Volume 2632, Issue 2632, 25 May 1889, Page 2

CAMBRIDGE BOROUGH COUNCIL.

A spwiat, meeting of the above Council, was held on Thursday, at op.in., to consider a report prepared by the Legal and Finance Committee. Present : The Mayor (Mr A. Clements), Crs. Priestly, Webber, Uillett, Richardson, Ferguson and Young. The minutes of the previous meeting having been cmtirmed, the report was rend as follows : — The Legal and Finance Committee have to report, as the result of their special meeting held on the l.Sth instant, to consider the financial condition of the borough, as followsTho income which may reasonably be expected for the present year, they consider to be about £000, and the expenditure. based upon, is estimated at £H22 ; thus leaving an estimated deficiency on the year's working of £!>!). This arises from the withdrawal this year of the subsidy under the L>e:tl Bodies Finance Powers Act, which amounted l;wt year to £Sl Is 0.1. Had this subsidy been continued, the incline would have exceeded the above estimate nf expenditure. In addition to this as the income of the past, year was considerably below that of the year preceding, owing in put to the lowered valuation and in part to the reduction or withdrawal "f previous subsidies, and as the legal limit of the overdraft at the bank is defennined e ich year by the income of the year prjvion-, it his become nece.-.siry to arrange for the reduction of the overdraft by a sum of about £170. T.'iis sum, together with the, abo.e estimated deficiency of fcJi'.J on the ordinary year's working, makes a total amount of about £210 to b'.rdealt with, and in some way provided for to make ends meet,'nod get the overdraft down to its legal limit. The n.o le of providing this amount has engaged tho anxious attention of the committee, mid they have now to advice. Ist. That the above estimate! expenditure of £022 be-, reduced by £Llo in the following items : (a) That tho surfaceman be dispensed with, and the labour needed during the year be hired as required. By this they consider that a saving of £40 may bo effected. (<>) That the salary of the clerk be reduced for this year from LoO to £40, thus effecting a saving of £20. (c) That the expon <!iture on "ravelling and street improving be limited to a total amount of £100; effecting a saving of £o0 in those two items, (d) It is hoped also that the, bank interest may be able to bo reduced by to. 2nd. That the authorised special lvarauiro bridge rate of 4d in the £be struck and levied. T'."S it is considered, will bring in an addition to the income of about £80. Toe above suggested reductions of ecpendituie and increase of income would tiiir, togetlr r provide about £l!l.j towards the required £240, leaving still a deficiency of £ 10, which the committee hopes to he able to arrange for during the, year:—The different items in the. report wen; then considered .seriatim. —(A) Cr. (lillott said they had thought it possible to save £40, not by dispensing with the. surfaceman altogether, as pea haps some w ail 1 think the wording of the, clause implied ; but by employing luui half time, lie, believed Ml' Preece would be willing to work at the same rate of wages as he now received.— Or. Webber said they could do without him in the summer, but in the winter he, would be required after C'ery storm, as the culverts soon become choked with leaves, etc., and required attention. If tho surfa ;eman could get a fortnight's work at another job. they could hardly expect him to leave it to attend to their wants at a moment's notice. — Cr. Gillett thought _ there were plenty of men who would be willing to undertake tho work if Preece was not available.—Clause (A) was then adopted on the motion of Cr. Bond, seconded by Cr. Ferguson.—(B) At this stage the clerk left the Council Chambers. —Cr. Uillett said the re duction in the clerk's salary was only for the present year; after that the subject would be again discussed. The finances must be put on a sound footing, but it did not follow that the reduction would bo a permanent one.—-Cr. Richardson asked how the clerk's salary compared with that paid by Hamilton,—The Mayor said it would not compare favourably with Hamilton, who had just resolved to pay their clerk £Llo.—Cr. Priestly said the clerk's salary last year was £S4, which included everything.—The Mayor said the clerk would not have minded a reduction of £10, but he objected to the £20.—Cr. Bond said there was a great outcry when the salary was raised.—The Mayor said that it was considerably the lowest salary of any Borough Council clerk that lie, know of. —Cr. Bond thought the clerk having the use of the offices was worth something to him, as lie conducted his private business in thorn.— Tho clause was then adopted on the motion of Cr. Gillctt, seconded by Cr. Bond.—On the motion of Or. Priestly, seconded by Cr. Oillett, it was resolved that the clerk be required to attend at tho office on Tuesdays and Fridays only, instead of three days per weekas'.atjpresent. (C)Of the £100 mentioned in this clause to be expended on gravelling, etc, £28 had been already hypothecated for works done. —Cr. Webber thought they should keep a portion of it in hand for emergencies.—The clause was adopted, as was also the one regarding bank interest.— Hi the matter of the Karapiro bridge rate of Id in tho £, which it was proposed to collect, Or. fiillet said the rate was struck at the time the bridge was erected, but it had never been collected, as the interest and sinking fund had both been paid out of tho general rates. —Cr. Priestly said the rate of 4d would hardly pay the amount due on the bridge, .till.; but it would have to be, made up out of tho other rates, as Id was tho maximum thev were allowed to charge, ft was resolved to collect the rates on the motion of Cr. Webber, seconded by Cr. Young. This was all the business.