Council exceeds overdraft

Press, 9 July 1986, Page 3

Council exceeds overdraft

Blenheim reporter The Blenheim Borough Council has exceeded its bank overdraft facility by almost $500,000 and the debt has come as a shock to some councillors. Most of them, however, have accepted the need for an increased limit as normal for an authority .which has not yet implemented instalment rating. The borough treasurer, Mr B. J. Kilgour, said at a special meeting on Monday evening he had been advised by the council’s bank manager that it had exceeded its $1.3 million overdraft facility by $76,000. Mr Kilgour said his own analysis of the situation a the figure at nearer ,000. “That is not a very pleasing situation,” he said. Expenditure had ex-

ceeded expectations as projected in the cash flow estimate prepared in April, he said. Receipts were almost on target but the present problem arose from the difficulty in determining when expenditure would fall. Next year, because of the introduction of instalment rating, estimates would have to be set in April instead of in June. Mr Kilgour said the council’s overdraft had reached $2 million before. Approval was only a formality for the bank. The Mayor of Bien-; helm, Mr P. A. Taylor, said it was an insult to councillors to ask them to approve a $2 million overdraft. The council later approved the new overdraft limit of $2 million, with Mr Taylor and Cr L. M. Randle voting against it.