GOVERNMENT LOANS TO LOCAL BODIES.

Press, Volume XLIII, Issue 6626, 17 December 1886, Page 3

GOVERNMENT LOANS TO LOCAL BODIES.

[PBBBS ASSOCIATION TBI—MBA]f.| WELLINGTON, December 16. The Colonial Treasurer supplies the j following information respecting the Government Loans and Local Bodies Act: —A great deal of attention has been given to this Act. A precis ot the two Acts was j sent to every local body in the colony. It 1 was then determined to invite applications from local bodies for leans amounting in all to -200.000, authorised to be granted this year. Applications were to be sent in by the 30th November. It was resolved, as the applications were not expected to be in excess of the total amount, to allow applications to be sent in for loans for which the local body had only resolved to ask the ratepayers consent, before that consent was granted. Fortunately the total amount comes just within the total available sum, and no pre rata reduction has to be made, otherwise it would have been unfair to place loans unauthorised by the ratepayers upon the same footing as those which had received their sanction. The total applications received were for £286,667, from whioh had to be j deducted amounts included fer the second year, amounts asked to pay off overdrafts (which could not be assented to under the Act) and applications not sent in in time. After these deductions were made theie remained a total number of formal applica-tionstobedealtwith,amountingto-199,744 divided as follows:—Counties, -3127,764; Boad Boards, £66,380; Town Boards, £1400; boroughs, £3200; Biver Boards, £1000; total, £199,744. It ib probable, though these are all provisionally granted, that the ratepayers will refuse to r.tify some of them. The Colonial Treasurer bae intimated to the local bodies whose applications came in too late that he -wilt consider them if the ratepayers reject some of the loans provisionally granted. The whole of the replies to local bodies will be poeted by to-morrow.