THE BOROUGH FINANCES.

Hastings Standard, Issue 200, 18 December 1896, Page 2

THE BOROUGH FINANCES.

The declaration of the finances of the Borough made by His Worship the Mayor on Wednesday last disclosed a fairly satisfactory state of affairs. When it is taken into consideration the three heavy items that are set down against the addition of .£BOO to our overdraft, \ve fancy that this opinion will bo stared by the majority of the ratepayers. The purchase of the fire engine has been fully justified when it is considered the number of lires for which Hastings is responsible —more than any other borough in New Zealand. The splendid work that has been performed by the Fire Brigade with the new appliances, saving thousands of pounds' worth of valuable property to the owners, emphasises the fact that this is a valuable asset to the borough's property. The item of i'2oo for law costs seems very high, and shows that legal opinion has been very much in evidence during the past three years. The drainage scheme has been responsible for some ,£.">oo during the same period, but the work has been of great benefit to the district in times of Hood, and was absolutely necessary. While we have an eye to economy, the needs of the borough must not be lost sight of. and the desire for masterly inactivity, for the purpose of reducing the overdraft during the corning year, as expressed at the recent meeting, will not, we feel convinced, be shared by those who live beyond the main streets. It is a well-known fact that Hastings possesses the most wretched andbadly-lighted streets of any borough in New Zealand, and, until these two very important things are attended to and the wants of ratepayers living a little distance from the main block are considered, no attempt should be made to reduce the overdraft. However, we would certainly deprecate any attempt to further increase the taxation of the ratepayers, but advocate the spending of the Council's revenue in these desirable. works.