KIWITEA COUNTY COUNCIL.

Feilding Star, Volume II, Issue 528, 23 March 1908, Page 4

KIWITEA COUNTY COUNCIL.

SATURDAY'S MEETING. The following da the continuation of our 'report of the meeting : — Cr. Fowler's name was omitted from the liat of those present. TRANSFERS. The following transfers were agreed to:— Section 9, Hauitapu, administrator of H. H. Hammond to Riohard Hammond ; suburban section. 13, Kimbolton, A. J. Capper to Mrs M. C. Martin; allotments 6 of Block 11., etc.. to R. Taylor; part section 213, Cheltenham, Cheltenham Blacksmithing Co. to George Saver: section 12, Block X, Hautapu, W. Wells to T. A. Munro: sections 25, 26 and 30, Block XIII. Apiti, J. H. Wishaw to A. J. Pettigrew; section 4, Wharekoa Estate,^. Moßeth ito J. A. Bailey; sections 1, 2, 3, Wharekoa Estate, It. Moßeth to Gregor Martin; Makonui Estate: sections 1, 3 and 4, to S. Hall : section 2, to S. Hall ; section 5, 6, 14, ,to W. Pratt ; sections 7 to 13, to H. A. Lutze; section 15, to J. Red; sections 26 and 27, to J. J. Bryce ; section 23, to M. M. Perry; section 22, to Mrs M. M. Perry ; section 12, to T A. Bryce ; sections 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 24, 25, to A. R. Bryce. RESOLUTIONS. The following motions were carried : Tha* R. P. Jensen's tenders for contracts Nos. 63 and 83 be accepted, •and 'his tender for No. 84 be left in the hands of the engineer to arrange. —Hockley— Mclntyre. That the Valley special order for £130 be confirmed.—Guthrie—Hociiley. That this Council wishes to place on .record its appreciation of the manner in which many settlers throughout the country lhave rendered valuable services in preventing the destruction by Jfire of bridges and other property of the county.— Hockley— Guthrie. That the "tender of Messrs Sinclair and Lehrke be accepted for contract 85 That the chairman's action ting tenders for contracts 66, 72 and part of 70 be confirmed. — Guthrie — McNeil. , n That a special meeting of the Council be Iheld on April 10, at 1 p.m., to consider the estimates, and the ordinary meeting be -held on April 11, at 10.30 a.m.— Fowler— Bruce. That Mr Brady's tender for metal on the Mangawhariki Toad be accepted . — Guth rie— McNeil . That Mr McCailmont's tender tor Main South road bridge be accepted, provided his schedules are satisfactory.—Guthrie—Hockley. Tha* Mr R. P. Jensen's tender for metalling the Upper Pakihikura a-oad at 3s 6d per yard be accepted.— MeNeil — Gutiwie. That Messrs McLean Bros, be given permission to erect a telephone line along the roadside from Mr G. Harris's residence to the Waituna Post Office, the work to be carried out to the satdsf action of the engineer.— MeNeil— Fowled 1 . That Mr Max Bauer be appointed poundkeeper at Kimbolton. — Fowler— Bruce. That the Council's practice of charging 2s per cent, for engineering expenses on all moneys spent on new work, whether loan or thirds, be continued . —Hockley— Guthrie. That G. Ellison's tender for leasing Livingstone cemetery reserve, at 5s per acre, was accepted. — Hockley--Guthrie. That .the Council's accident insurance policy be renewed with the N.Z. Insurance Co.— Hockley— Fowler. THE PEf^A ROAD. Cr. Hockley made a lengthy explanation about Mr Robb's complaint as to the metalling of the Peka road not being completed,, and said that it was entirely owing to Mr Robb's action in objecting to the work being done when the tender was just let that it was not finished. RABBIT POISON. In addition to the list published m Saturday's issue, Messrs C. J. Hansen and Sons forwarded a statement showing that more than twenty-five settlers had applied to them for rabbit poison. DOG-TAX. The County Clerk reported ithat £101 had already been collected ior dog-tax. BRYCE'S ROAD. Some considerable time was spent on the question of charging the expenditure on Bryce's road to the general fund. It appeared that Cr. Morton was relying on the statement of riding balances, in which his riding had a credit, to show that the, amount could be obtained without levying a special rate, while the Chairman was entirely opposed to the amount being paid out of the general fund. _ The latter pointed out that the riding account statement only showed the balance in hand of the amount estimated for certain works, but as all those works had not been completed, it could not be said that a balance was available for new works, besides which it was the rule of the Council to pay for all new works out of special rates. Or. Hockley, while supporting the Chairman's view, maintained that Cr. Morton had misunderstood the position, and that it would be best to . Ilow *his special payment to be made out of the general tund. Ho moved, That in view of the fact that a misunderstanding has occurred over tho question as to how the money has to be found for payment of pipes • n Bryce's road, the amount in question be padd on the clear understanding that for the future no new work be charged to the general account.^ The motion was seconded by Cr. Fovder, and carried. THE SYSTEM OF RATING. The Chairman explained that the resolution passed at last meeting stating that the estimates for next year be prepared on the system of a general rate for the whole county, as the Act of last year did not provide for a system of differential rating, was proposed under a misapprehension. In giving the jopinion to that effect, he had been misled by wrong information, and it was necessary that the matter be put right. Crs Guthrie said that even now there was some doubt as to whether the Act of last year did provide sufficiently for differential rating, but in any case he opposed that system. The motion to rescind the resolution of last meeting was carried. Cr. Hockley proposed, "That the rating for the ensuing year proceed on the lines of last year." He said that on two occasions the incidence of taxation in the county had been altered. Some years ago the differential rating was adopted instead of the uniform system when he first came on the Council, with the object of compelling each riding to finance itself. After two years' experience of the system they found that it was bearing very hardly on some of the ridings. Then the Appeal Court gave a judgment that the system />f differential rating xvps illegal." On his motion the Council reverted to the present system of uniform rating, and he did not think it advisable to alter that during their term of office. The amending Act of last year made the adoption of either system permissive. The existing riding boundaries militated against the adoption of a differential system, and if they made each riding finance itself it would be very unfair. The amending Act also ' provided that the Council could de- I fine what were main roads, the maintenance of which would be paid out ' of the general rate; but it was exceedingly difficult to define what were main roads, so that while it might be thought relief could be given in that way, it was not really so. He felt sure they would be going on safe and' right lines if his motion were carried. Cr. Guthrie seconded the motion. He considered that the Council had got out of the experimental stage as regards the system of rating. There was a pleased feeling amongst the ratepayers that the Council had dropped the parochial spirit and were administering the affairs of the county as a whole. During last year no act of injustice in regari to the expenditure of moneys had been, alleged by any ratepayer, and even when tho Councillor for a particular riding had been absent from the colony, other^ Councillors had looked after his riding quite willingly and it received as much consideration as if he Were In the district, while he believed that every Councillor felt , that, in his absence, the affairs of his riding were safe in the hands of the rest of the Council. Nothing could

be fairer than the present system of rating, which gave Councillors an interest in every riding, and his experience had been that there was not the slightest tendency to be unfair — on the contrary, every Councillor seemed to make it his especial care to see that all parts of the county were treated fairly. Apart from that they would be acting in quite a legal manner in continuing tho system which had done so much good as a whole. Cr. Bruce said he was still inclined to think that differential rating was the fairest system and most satisfactory. The tendency of th© existing system was to cause extravagance and careless expenditure. Cr. Morton considered it might be thought that the ratepayers in the northern end of the county were in a more difficult position in connection with their roads than the ratepayers in the southern end, but the northern ratepayers used the roads in the ridings at the southern end more than the other way about. He thought the differential rating system would be more satisfactory to the whole of the ratepayers of the county than the uniform system. It seemed to him that the latter system had a tendency to cause a scramble, and induce the Council to spend money and strike a higher general rate than was necessary for the working of the county. Cr. Morton thought it was rather a serious question to decided upon in a few minutes, and he thought it would be wisest to go on the lines of the last year or two to see how it would work out. Cr. McNeil believed it would be almost as well to go on as they had been doing. They might, in the event of any riding having a big debit balance, strike % special rate in that riding. The Chairman remarked that they did not get those things now (riding debit balances). Cr. McNeil pointed out that on the riding balance-sheets the northern riding came out far better than the southern. The Chairman said he agreed to a great extent with Cr. Bruce, and if the boundaries of the ridings were fairly adjusted he would vote for a differential general rate; but under present circumstances it would not be fair to do so. The action of the Council that day in agreeing to pay the cost of new work on Bryco's road out of the general fund, instead of levying a special rate in the riding to pay for it, was an incentive to him to support any scheme under which a riding should bear its own expenditure. When they had one riding containing only twelve miles of roads against another with ninety miles, it would be unfair to make the revenue, and expenditure of each riding self-contained. Therefore, he would vote- in favor of the motion, not because he believed in the principle it contained, but because the application of differential rating to their present riding boundaries would De unjust. Cr. Hockley, in reply, pointed out that the Act made the adoption of either system pormissiye, and if they were to define the ridings on the ratable value they would never be able to have differential rating. The experience of the last two years of an equal general rate over the whole county would not bear out Cr. Bruce's statement about scrambling for expenditure and extravagance. The last three years had been a credit to the Council, for there was not an atom of feeling at the Council table in regard to the expenditure, and he would be very sorry to depart from such a state of affairs as had existed. The custom had been for the engineer to make the estimates of work for the year, and he had never heard of a Councillor endeavouring to influence that official in favor of his own riding. The present system Avas not in any way conducive to extravagance and had not caused scrambling for expenditure, and never so long as the present state of affairs existed at the Council table. The Chairman remarked that the engineer's estimates of work for the year had never been questioned. Th motion was then carried.