CAPITAL DEBT OF RIVER BOARD

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 271, 12 August 1938, Page 6

CAPITAL DEBT OF RIVER BOARD

Will Be Almost Nil In Seven Years

“The capital indebtedness of the 'board iu seven years will be almost nothing,” said the acting-chairman of the Hutt River Board, Air. F. J. Jones, in the course of a statement at yesterday’s board meeting, in which he briefly reviewed the board’s activities. The board was constituted in 1898, covering the territory from the Silverstream railway bridge to the sea, and had done good work in protecting the Lower Hutt Valley from floods, said Mr. Jones. The cost to the ratepayers for the protection afforded had amounted to £197,000, made up as follows:—lnterest and amortisation, £73,000; maintenance and works, £66,000; other charges, £58,000. The capital expenditure on major works had been £53,000, This had been partly paid off so that to-day it stood at £28,000. By February. 1943, it would be further reduced £17,000, and in February, 19-15, to nominally £7OOO. This amount was •on a table mortgage, and actually amounts standing to credit of principal would leave the capital' indebtedness at £3SUO. In other words, the capital indebtedness of the board in seven years would be almost nothing. As to assets, the present position was approximately as follows: —Laud reserves, etc-., £23,000; cash reserves, £7OOO. The additional value of the board’s land on the seafront, at present under reclamation, would, in a -few year’s time, bring the assets up to £50,000. The board was anxious to do away with any further -borrowing, and to that end considered building up a small reserve fund to meet certain future contingencies. This fund now stood at: General account, £5830; interest, £lO2O. The board’s policy during the last few years had been to reduce rates ns far as was prudent; an average reduction of some -14 per cent, had been made during the .past few years. For the next few years until 194.2, it would not be possible to reduce further. After that date, it was hoped gradually to reduce, and when the reclaimed land was in full use, the board should be in a position to do away with any rating. . “I think members will agree that this is a wonderful position to be in for a board of this type, which is not a trading concern, and I may say the river itself was never in a better state,” said Air. Jones “To give a uniform regime, the ideal state would be a straight channel, uniformly symmetrical, and absolutely smooth. Such is not possible, but both the alignment and grade of the river are being gradually but consistently improved to as near the ideal as is economically justified.” , . , , , The chairman addeel that the board was actually paying half the rates out of accumulated funds.