Capital works cut to hold rates?

Press, 10 May 1979, Page 4

Capital works cut to hold rates?

A year’s delay in raising $300,000 in loan money to start the Cashel Street-High Street Mall •.was suggested yesterday as one way to reduce a projected big increase in Christchurch City Council works spending.

'After inconclusive debate) on this matter, and on the fiMsibility of slowing down work on the Sydenham central works yard to save rates money, the works and traffic committee said that serious consideration should be given to putting the brakes on the council’s entire capital works loan programme because of nigh Interest rates. Total net works spending, after taking out S7.IM in receipts and recoveries over the coming year, was projected about SB.7M, 25.6 per cwt higher than last year’s estimate.

. Jarly next week, a special council sub-committee will meet to determine where attending cuts in all departments can be made. But councillors yesterday were reluctant to make any significant cuts in the large works and traffic estimates. Afost debate centred on the loan accounts. Cr D. C. Close questioned whether the entire proposed $450,000 loan for work on the central wprks depot site was necessary this vear. But the Associate City Engineer (Mr B. D. Forbes) said the council was already three years behind in that project to replace an ageing depot and poor working conditions in Moorhouse Avenue.

Other loans aside from streets would be for renewal of equipment at the Halswell quarry ($165,000) and part of the city’s share of the Metropolitan Refuse Disposal Scheme ($610,000). Another $300,000 was suggested to start off the city centre pedestrian mall project, which city businessmen

want to get off the drawing i board as soon as possible to keep the central business 'district healthy.

Without any cuts, the total loan accounts would be 52.3 M, up from SI.3M last year. Loan servicing charges on that total would be at least $660,000. The committee’s only certain cut was from $1’50,000 to $lOO,OOO in rates to help buy designated streetworks properties on hardship grounds. This allocation would be the same amount as last year, and would supplement $158,300 in loan finance — the balance of a present loan — for hardship buying. The City Council’s National Roads Board allocation this year will be $2.5M, only 2 per cent more than last year’s final allocation. But the council has more work

than that so it would again spend rates money on streetworks without getting an N.R.B. subsidy. About $460,000 of subsidisable works would be done without Government subsidy. Maintenance costs would be held, but the same rate of work would be done throughout the city, especially on kerb, channel and shoulder work. There would be “a modest amount of reconstruction,” i but that part of the work would not allow any new jobs for local contractors aside from kerbs, channels, and footpaths associated with major reconstruction jobs.

Refuse disposal would cost less this year, mainly because less frequent landfill covering would be needed

for parts of Bexley Tip distant from houses. However, savings there would be offset by a larger rubbish recycling programme, estimated to cost $17,000. The expected revenue from the sale of recovered materials would be $20,500; of that, $10,500 would be from household collections in the trial scheme, and $lO,OOO would be from recyclable rubbish accepted at the tip. Last year, experimental household collections earned $6400 in sale of recovered materials. The project did not run a full year, and its running cost was $49,363. The cost of running it for a full financial year is expected to be $95,000.

Capital and running costs of the Bexley Tip recycling depot would be about $75,000.

The City Engineer (Mr P. G. Scoular) said there would also be a loss of revenue because recyclable rubbish could be dumped free at the depot. It has been estimated that recycling collections covering the entire city could cost from $570,000 to $760,000, or six to eight times the present cost in selected neighbourhoods.

Mr Scoular said he had reservations about the experimental collections, which were only bringing in a small amount of material not critical to the country’s economy.

Even though works spending is high, it represents only about 21 per cent of the city’s rates bill. In 1964, 38 per cent of the bill was spent on roads, streets and bridges.