MOUNT EDEN RATES.

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 125, 27 May 1919, Page 5

MOUNT EDEN RATES.

SMALL INCREASE PROPOSED. TO KEEP UP THE ROADS. STATEMENT BY THE MAYOR. A statement of the finances of the Borough of Mt. Eden, and an intimation of the necessity to raise the rates by lid '. in the £ were made by the Mayor (Mr. C. Hudson) when he presented the estimates to his council last night. He ' stated that the council had begun last ' year with a debit balance of £1862, and outstanding liabilities of £545, and had finished up to date with a debit balance of £1940, and outstanding liabilities of £1543. Included in the latter was £212 of epidemic expenditure, and the cost of a quantity of tar and bitumen obtained within the last six weeks, a good deal of which material would be available for this year's operations. These amounts, however, did not mean that the council ' had an overdraft of such amount. Aβ a matter of fact, on March 31, the end of the financial year, the council's overdraft was £213, which in the light of I the £212 epidemic expenditure, meant ' that the general account was practically squareKEEPING UP THE ROADS. The valuation last year wae £144,950, and the general rate was 1/1 in the £, estimated to produce £7857. This year the value was £149,475, which, at the general rate which he proposed of 1/3, would produce £9842. The sum allocated last year for roads and maintenance was £3000, and though the allocation had been adhered to it had proved insufficient, with the result that the roads and footpaths had deteriorated. Consequently he proposed that the sum this year be increased to £4000. Later the engineer would present a scheme for the allocation of repair work and upkeep, which was calculated to save the "borough a good deal of useless expenditure hitherto involved in the cost of clearing weeds. The only streets loan in which money was left unexpended was the No. 10 loan of £10,000, which had £1100 to £1200 available. Of that sum £850 had been allotted by resolution of the council for the permanent extension of Dominion Road to the boundary of the borouch, and £250 for the extension of Mt. Eden Road to the boundary. Both works were urgent, and should be done this year. The amount allotted for Dominion Road would be sufficient to do the greater portion of the work, but £250 was inadequate for Mt. Eden Road. It might be possible to use the stone from Dominion Road for Mt. Eden Road, and with a sum from the general funds, to do a portion of that road to the boundary, deferring the completion of the road at full width till a later date. THE EFFECT ON THE RATES. He had had to provide a slight increase in the general account to produce the extra £1000 for roads and maintenance, and the 2d in the £ added to the general rate would give an additional revenue of £1244. But there was a reduction in the special rates, so that the net increase in rates was ljd in the £. THE DRAINAGE "WORK. The drainage work was most important, and had to be prosecuted with vigour, nnd the Council had agreed on the priority of the several sections of the work receiving attention. During the j year £4-273 had been expended on drain- ] age, and the commitments on present I contract* totalled £2881. He proposed !to ask the Council to decide to request j the "Minister for authority to float i another £10.000 of the loan authorised I for drainage purposes. The total expenditure to date on drainage, including i present commitments, had been £32,048THE PARKS. Mr Hudson stated that he had allotted £l;>0 for expenditure on Potter's Park, which should permit of an area being put into grass for a playground. For Mt. Eden Domain £100 had been allocated, and he desired to sec an endeavour made to improve the portion of the domain leading up to the mountain from Normanby Road. PROPOSED INCREASE OF IJD. The Council followed the Mayor through the details of the estimates cubI mitted, and, on scrutinising the special; j loan provisions decided that the rate , , proposed for the (Nos. 7 and 9 special; ! loans provided a surplus which could be! cut down. As a consequence, the estimated rate of 4d was reduced to 3Jd, thus making , the net increase in the : ! ratee generally Jd lees- Consequently,! : when the estimates, with this amend-! ! ment, were approved, the effect "was that ;i proposed increase in the rates of ljd in the £ met with approval, a decision which will come up for confirmation at' a later special meeting. The Council also approved a •proposal to get another £10,000 of the drainage loan floated,