CITY FINANCE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 231, 30 September 1930, Page 3

CITY FINANCE.

HOW ASSETS HAVE ACCRUED.

INTERESTING- SIDELIGHTS. VALUE OF PUBLIC PARKS. Interesting figures showing the financial position of the city of Auckland and the many ways in which the city has acquired its assets, were given by Mr. Or. W. .Hutchison, a member of the City Council, to-day to members of the Auckland branch of the I\ew Zealand Society of Accountants. A municipality differed from a private concern, lie said, in that it had no invested capital, and all its assets necessarily accrued to it from either bequests or gifts, or loan moneys, or revenue surpluses. Mr. Hutchison gave, a brief survey of those who had made bequests to the city from Sir George Grey in the early days. The value of these' in cash he estimated at £.34.700. He also mentioned Cornwall Park was not vested in the City Council, and t'ae Motuihi Island was vested in the council as a Domain Board. Sundry assets rising out of loan moneys or out of revenues, he put at £2,44.j,800. Of this amount, the Town Hall accounted for £143,000, and land, pumping stations services, etc., fer £1,015,000. The city also had land and other properties similiarly acquired, such as parks and sections owned in the city and suburbs. In that connection, he rev'ealed the value of some of the city's larger parks. The Domain was set at £320,000, Albert Park at £266.000 and Victoria Park at £50,300, and the reserves in the Waitakeres £50,700. The book value of the city's endowments was £857,000. It was safe to say both in regard to tlie endowments and to many of the city's lands that the book value was considerably below the value of those assets to-day. Summarising the various assets, and making a grand total, the figure was in the vicinity of £12,000,000. while the liabilities ■ Vere about £8,000,000. As evidencing the steady progress of the city, Mr. Hutchison compared the ratable value of 1905 with that of 1930 They were £424,149 and £2.715,876 respectively. "It is a/ fact that some of the earlier loans raised by the city are not adequately covered by their sinking funds," continued the speaker. "The result is that those loans as they mature can only be partially paid off and fresh loans have to be raised to meet the balance, which entails expenses for which no new benefit is conferred on the city. "The extent to which it is equitable that this extended debt should be passed on to posterity depends entirely upon whether the assets for which the debt was originally created will continue to oe of service during the renewed period of the loans. "It is satisfactory to note that all recent loans, are adequately provided for and that in time this unsatisfactory feature wjII disappear from the city's nuances, as there are instances in which a surplus is left in the sinking fund alter the loan has been liquidated."