NEARLY £5000

Grey River Argus, 2 August 1940, Page 11

NEARLY £5000

BOROUGH OVERDRAFT This Year’s Estimates Commencing the year with a pencil ot £2632 Ts 6d (bank credit H<b2 8s 10d with cash in hand £159 6s, against which there were presented cheques amounting to £3894 -s 4 cutstanding), the Greymouth Borough Council has, during the currem vear budgeted for an overdraft of £4924 0s 7d. The annual estimates of receipts and expenditure for the year ending March 31, 1941, were approved by the Council at a special meeting last evening. Interesting points in the estimates of receipts are General Rates £7221, Government Subsidy on Rates £450, Hospital Rate £6783 7s lid, and special rates £12,800. Notable items of expenditure include office salaries £2200 administration and miscellaneous £l7OO, streets and lighting £7050, hospital levy £6783 7s lid, interest and sinking fund £13,150, fire prevention £716 10s, relief of unemployment £5OO. In the Cobden area revenue under all headings is estimated to be £2lOO, whilst expenditure proposed amounts to £2257 Is Bd. The water rate during the coming year is expected to yield £4520, and expenditure is estimated to be £30(10. Abbatoir fees are estimated at £1894 and expenditure £lB5O. Cemetery fees are estimated at £450 and expenditure (including £JOO for extensions) £4OO. Reserves ar e expected to produce £220 in rents, and expenditure (including recreation and public instruction) is estimated at £lOOO. Greymouth sanitation fees are expected to total £9OO and Cobden fees £320, whilst expenditure is estimated at £7OO in Greymouth and £430 in Cobden. Provision is made for £5OO rent from the Town Hall, on which expenditure is expected to be £4OO. The Library is expected to produce £2OO in subscriptions, and the cost will be £660. Total revenue in the Municipal Gas Dep-irt-ment under all headings is expected to reach £15,352, whilst estimated expenditure is £14,875. RECEIPTS.

EXPENDITURE. Following are the details of esti-

COBDEN AREA. Details of receipts for the Cobden

Mayor’s Statement REVENUE LAST YEAR £658 LESS THAN ESTIMATE. After stating that the estimates had been discussed on two or three occasions in committee, the Mayor (Mr F. A. Kitchingham) read the following statement: — Cobden Area. The rates in the £ this year will be virtually the same as last year except hs regards the hospital rate which will be reduced. Original Greymouth Area. The present financial year is the first in which the Borough has had to pay two half-yearly instalments on: — (a) The whole of the £57,000 sewerage loan, and (b) The loan of £9BOO borrowed in the early part of 1939-40 financial year to reimburse the general account for moneys expended on the Omoto slip (£1000), completing Omoto road widening (£600) and £B2OO expended in the years 1935-38 in connection with employment promotion schemes.

The Social Security scheme has enabled the hospital levy to be reduced by £2027 while the increase in special rates by reason of the mat - ters above is £2688, so that the net increase in rates on the Greymoutn area is £661.

In our estimates for 1939-40 we budgeted for an overdraft plus outstanding accounts amounting to £4924; in fact we did not achieve this result by about £658 but on the 31st March last the amount payable to the Borough by the Government in respect of the relief workers’ wages showed an increase of roughly £6OO as against the previous year. Of course a full comparison of the year just ended with the previous one cannot be made till the balance sheet for 1939-40 is audited. This year we have budgeted for a similar, total of overdraft and outstanding accounts; speaking more accurately we have budgeted for an overdraft of £4924 because under the modified system of accounting, cheques will (as in 1939-40) be drawn as on the 31st March for accounts due on that date and consequently outstanding accounts will disappear from the balance sheet but their place will be taken by outstanding cheques not presented for payment. The only striking feature m the estimates is the fact that the estimates for street maintenance and improvements are reduced by £2OOO which was necessary in order to balance receipts and expenditure. The Council has for the past year had the services of roughly 40 relief workers apart from those on the sewerage works and these men have to be supplied with tools and materials and accident insurance premiums have to be paid on the amount of their wages. The reduction of £2OGO on street maintenance and improvements means that work must be found on jobs where much labour but little material is required. Unless means are found to provide materials and thus enable much more beneficial work to be done than where the men are employed mainly on labour jobs. In this connection a small loan to be expended over tiffiee years would be very beneficial and would not upset the Borough finances. If the loan were to be repaid in ten years the addition to the Borough rates would be roughly £l2(’ a year for each £lOOO borrowed, while the capital amount borrowed would have little effect on the Borough loan indebtedness which this year and in future years will reduce at the rate of over £7lOO a year On the motion of the Mayor and Cr. F. F. Boustridge, the estimates as presented were adopted without discussion.

Details of estimated receipts fcr the year are as follows: — £ s. d. Cr. National Bank 31/3/40 Cash in hand 31/4/40 1052 159 8 10 District Fund Account General rate, struck at 6 0 7221 £7570 0 0 10 per cent, penalty on 0 overdue rates 100 0 Govt, subsidy on rates 450 0 0 Sanitation fees, Grey area 900 0 0 Licensing fees (including traffic) 2500 0 0 Reserve rents 220 0 0 Hospital levy rate, whole area Cemeterys fees (includ6783 450 7 11 ing sale of plots') 0 0 library subs. etc. 200 0 0 Town Hall rents 500 0 0 Abattoir fees 1894 0 0 Sales of gas 9900 0 0 Sale of stoves, etc. 3000 0 0 S;.le of residuals 2400 0 0 Gas a/c. sundries Water rate, Grey area 52 0 0 struck at £2279 Water rate, extraordin2100 0 0 ary supply 2100 0 0 Petrol tax Special rate, struck at 1750 12,800 0 0 £13,400 0 0 Other revenue 400 0 0 Outstanding revenue 31,49 • 18 7 Overdraft budgeted for 4924 0 7 Total £65,006 1 11

mated expenditure: — £ s. d Cheques unpresented 31/3/40 3894 2 4 Mayor’s honorarium 150 0 0 Town Clerk and Officers’ Salaries 2200 0 0 Miscellaneous (including administration) 1700 0 0 Contingencies 150 0 0 Drainage 600 0 0 Main highways 250 0 0 Street maintenance 4000 0 0 Stieet improvements 2000 0 0 Street lighting 1050 0 0 Removal nightsoil 700 0 0 Removal refuse 410 0 0 Fire prevention 617 10 0 Reserves, etc. 1000 0 0 Swimming baths 175 0 0 Hospital levy 6783 7 J. JCemetery maintenance 300 0 0 Cemtery extension 100 0 0 Library, etc. 660 0 0 Town Hall 400 0 0 Gas, wages, etc. 12,000 0 0 Stoves, etc. 2500 0 0 Depreciation 375 0 0 Abattoir 1850 0 0 Water, wages, etc. 850 0 0 Water extension 500 0 0 Power for pumps 1650 0 0 Health Inspector 129 0 0 Inspector of Nuisances 160 0 0 Elections 100 0 0 Women’s Rest Room 45 0 9 Unauthorised expendilure 100 0 0 Interest & Sinking Fund (including overdraft) 13,150 0 0 Relief of unemployment out of revenue 500 0 Aerodrome 50 0 0 Rest Room Memorial 850 0 0 Total 63,949 0 3 Plus Ioan moneys on deposit 2900 0 0 £66,849 0 3

area are as follows:— £ s. d. General rate struck at £1300 1200 0 0 Street Lighting rate struck £168 150 0 0 Water rate struck £380 320 0 0 10 per cent, penalty on overdue rates 30 0 0 Sanitation fees 320 0 0 Publicans’ licenses 80 0 0 Total 2100 0 0 Grand total £67,106 1 11 Expenditure items in the C ofc-den area are as follows:— £ s. d. Slreet maintenance, etc. 1200 0 0 Drainage 200 0 0 Bridge charges 74 1 8 Removal refuse 50 6 0 Removal nightsoil 430 0 0 Street lighting 180 0 0 Inspector of Health 23 0 0

Relief of unemployment 0 0 out of revenue 100 Total 2257 1 8 Grand total £67,106 1 11