Surplus expected at Waimairi

Press, 25 February 1988, Page 34

Surplus expected at Waimairi

A surplus of $402,978 is expected by the Waimairi .District Council at the end of the financial year. The council’s estimated expenditure for 1987-1988 was $lO million. In a 10-month cost statement discussed at a special meeting of the council’s finance and policy committee, the figures showed that by January this year $8 million had been spent. Staff predict that by March 31 there will be a surplus of $402,978. The District Treasurer, Mr Lindsay Moore, said four factors had brought about the surplus: the unpredictable factors of interest rates, Government revenue-sharing, and tenders, as well as some work not having been

done. The surplus will be carried forward to the next financial year. Cr Des King said the figures were important, as they were a sign that work that had been rated for was not being done. “We should make every effort to spend the money to do the work we have rated for,” he said. Some staff members denied that work was not being done, and other councillors congratulated them on how close the estimates were. “I don’t think the idea is that if you have surplus you go off and spend it,” said Cr Brian Shackel. “You give the ratepayers the benefit of it in next year’s rates,” he said.