BOROUGH ECONOMY

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 98, 28 April 1938, Page 8

BOROUGH ECONOMY

ONEHUNGA'S RECORD. MAYOR BEVIEWS PROGRESS. ■WIPING OUT THE DEFICIT. In reviewing the affairs of the borough during his three years of office. Mr. J. Park. Mayor of Onehunga, stated last evening in the Foresters' Theatre, Onehunrra, that when he took office the borough was faced with a deficit of £10.000. To-day this liability had been replaced with liquid assets valued at £12,000. The net profit on last year's operations, he said, has amounted to £2226 and, although the bank overdraft still remained high, it had been reduced to £5031 as at March .11 last. A profitable transaction had been the purchase of the Halstead block of buildings in Queen Street, Onehunga, -which was already returning a revenue in rents sufficient to repay the principal with intercut in a few- years. Another transaction, the Mayor continued, was the repayment in full of a loan of £1500, some years before, the due date and representing a saving of £1400 in interest. The borough had had to meet an additional burden of £2000 last year for the increased cost of wages and material. Mr. Park commented at length on the balance-sheet, as reported in the "Star" last night. No less than £26,000, he said, had been expended during his term of office on streets and footpaths. Mr. Park defended the council's action in raising a loan of £22,000 without taking a poll of the ratepayers for the development of the Waikaraka Park as a sports ground. The administration of the borough, he said, was the most economical in the Dominion. He complimented the staff on its efficiency. A comprehensive vote of thanks to the Mayor and councillors for their services was adopted by the large audience present.