The Hastings Standard. MONDAY, NOV. 5, 1906 THE BOROUGH BALANCESHEET.

Hastings Standard, Volume X, Issue 5345, 5 November 1906, Page 2

The Hastings Standard. MONDAY, NOV. 5, 1906 THE BOROUGH BALANCESHEET.

The Auditor-General, in his examination of the Hastings Borovgh Council's finances, has taken exception to two amounts, namely, " that £BB9 6s of the Carnegie grant, and £207 10s 7d of special rates to pay interest on the loan of £20,000, have unlawfully been used for other purposes " The amounts referred to have been placed in the District Fund Account, and it is evident that Mr Warburton is of opinion that two separate funds should be opened by the Council with their bank in which to place these amounts, but the fact of him thinking so is not sufficient to justify his assertion that the moneys "have unlawfully been used." Any action he may take exception to should be upheld by the fciunicipal Corporation Act, but in this case we fail to find any authority in his support. On the other hand i the Council have the Act at their back, which pays, dealing with finance : (Section 87) " There shall be for every borough a fund to be termed the 'District Fund;' (88) the District Fund shall consist of the following moneys—-(sub-sec. 3) All rates made and levied by the Council under this or any ! other Act; (sub-sec. 9) All moneys 1 received by way of subscription or voluntary contribution. It will thus be seen that the sub-sections quoted fit in .with the Council's action in placing the amounts in the District Fund. We hope the Council will press Mr Warburton for an explanation for the action he has taken, which, we assert, is not in accordance with the Act which governs municipal bodies.