BOROUGH FINANCE.

Auckland Star, Volume LIV, Issue 218, 12 September 1923, Page 9

BOROUGH FINANCE.

QUESTION OF ADMINISTRATION jrf IjrTEBE STING COMPARISON. Dl sa-SED IN TAKAPUXA. The jost of J™£*\ ld: "i"|i, trat o?her Takaptm.l. COIJ I' _, ..,.., , . E,°-TiV and X " T'l-'k"-n,lk i n tafof kvory exhaustive nature. ih, M.-tor ,t expenditure. The report continii".: 1 It Urns evident from the foregoing that :h- bor-.ugh office is and that the cost of office c . j. t _, r :.,n ,- t< o hijili- l: must be SS 1,-.' lf« tie. high standard of efficiency is maintained in t!ie ornce. an.!. w!-.:le ih;a is a very desirable feature, it is our opinion that perhaps it i- oXauw-d at too great a Jost." , It «as suggested that a saving could be made in seodin = out demand notices: they eouU be consolidated in one yearly demand instead or being issued separate!} for aiffer-nt rates. It seemed to the committee that there was no satisfactory ehtck .-: tho time-sheets of the labourers employed, despite the fact that there were u n tho outside staff n . sa whose honesty and integrity were beyond reproach. A COMPARATIVE STATEMENT. Summary of the ofiice staffs and salaries paid !>y several boroughs, the number of stall in each instance being given :n parentheses: Takapuna i7i. iI3:W: Devonporx 4. £174 10 ; Birkenhead l2i. £500: Northcote ill, £350: Mt Albert 14 , £ 1001: Newmarket. |2). foaO; lit. Eden i<s , £1347. TOWN CLERK IN REPLY. Tne town clerk Mr. S. Brittain Bull I, in a lengthy report, questioned the accuracy of the committee's figures, especially for purposes of comparison, and quoted from statistic in the Local Government Blue Book in support of his contention. The average cost of man agement for boroughs with regard to revenue was 4.H0 per cent, and only IS of 117 local bodies were under the average, while in !)'.' .■α-es. providing there were no special circumstances, tne cost of administration was too high. It appeared that the larger borouglis and cities were all well under the average, and their figures ;iad the effect of lowering the total a\erage. He asserted that the figuies in the Government reports showed Takapuna's figures much more favourably than the figures compiled by the committee. Further, he claimed that the local circumstances peculiar to the district must be taken into consideration —e.g.. distance from post office, lack of adequate banking facilities, indifferent transit facilities, length of journey to town, choice of employees limited, and other details. Furtherj in the last two years at least £100 had been spent out of administration costs in preparing, typing and duplicating reports, etc., in connection with loan proposals. The legal expenses, which in the year taken tor comparison, were £204. "-were incurred through test cases in connection with the building by-laws. Further, the inspec-tor-clerk was appointed for duties mainly connected with work unconnected with office administration. He estimated that the cash savings from the issue of yearly instead of half-yearly demands. ■R-oulu be less than £2U per annum, whiie the possible losses mignt easily bo considerably more. POINTS OF DIFFERENCE. The Mayor i Mr. A. M. Gould j. in reviewing the committee's report, eaid that the comparisons in some instances at least had not been made on an equal basis, showing Takapuna at a disadvantage. There"were two or three matters that affected the position. in Takapuna they kept a≤ nearly as possible correct commercial accounts of drays, roller and quarry, also of the expenditure on each street. Neither Mount Eden nor Mount Albert kept full commercial accounts of their drays or quarries. Devon port, he believed, did keep a correct quarry account. Dropping these special accounts might mean a saving of £200 a year. A saving might also be effected as suggested by the sub-committee by i-sTiTin" accounts yearly instead of half-yearly! ■lhe councils control uf the sanitary service involved a good deal of clerical wors not borne hy boroughs where the worK was done by contract. There would no doubt be a lessening of clerical work ii the borough had a sewage system itie Mayor said he was in accord" with tne sub-committee in a desire to secure economy in administration, but he did not think they cuuld make any vast reduction. - Councillor Gaudin pointed out that a considerable saving could be effected by dispensing with the services of the n> spector-clerk on the outside staff. It was eventually agreed that the Jlayor comer with the sub-committee and onng down SO me recommendations to the next council meeting, with a definition oi the position of the officer described as inspector-clerk.