ALLOCATION OF MONEYS

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXX, Issue 4870, 14 July 1936, Page 5

ALLOCATION OF MONEYS

PURCHASE OF NEW TRUCK. DISCUSSION' BY BOROUGH COUNCIL. A stand by Cr. Low at the Borough Council meeting last evening that the £3OO odd in the Borough estimates, which was yet unallocated, should be allocated for some definite purpose before it slipped through the Council's fingers, raised much discussion. He suggested the money should be definitely set aside for the purchase of a motor truck. Cr. Low said that in two months the Council, which had started the year with £6OO free money, had more or less given away £2oo—an increase in subsidy of £IOO for the Band, and then £IOO was to be paid to the Mangapu Drainage Board out of this year's revenue. Yet he noticed that at last meeting the Council decided they were not in a position to help the unemployed owing to a lack of funds. The ratepayers might have something to say about that. It had been brought strongly to his mind that unless the Borough allocated the balance of moneys on hand it would very soon have no moneys to allocate, and he therefore moved that the moneys in hand be definitely allocated with the purpose of replacing the Borough's present truck. Cr. Mackersey seconded the motion in connection with the purchase of the truck, though he did not agree with Cr. Low's opening remarks. The latter, he thought, was out of order in referring to resolutions already passed, and was wrong when he said the money had been given away. The Band in the past had received very little assistance from the Council—they had paid nothing for the instruments. Very good service had been received from the Mangapu Drainage Board, and £2OO was a very cheap "let-out" for the Borough. Good value had been received for the money spent in both cases. Cr. Isaac said he had not heard comments against the granting of these moneys, and if a member was not present at the meeting that was not the Council's fault.

Cr. Dobson said that in view of the benefits received, the Council must keep faith with the Drainage Board. Though he had wanted to hold the question over until a fuller meeting of the Council, the Drainage Board had required funds immediately. Cr. Mackersey did not approve of allocating the whole surplus, as anything might crop up, but Cr. Low said if the surplus was not allocated it would just slip away.

The various schemes of paying for trucks on the running costs were tentatively discussed. When the motion was read to the meeting Cr. Mackersey withdrew his name as a seconder. When he had seconded the motion, he had thought it was merely one for purchasing a truck—he was not in favour of a definite allocation of all moneys on hand. He contended it was "tying it up in the dark." Cr. Johnson seconded Cr. Low's motion, and then Cr. Mackersey moved an amendement that a sub-commit-tee go into the question of purchasing a truck or of paying for it on a running cost basis, and report at the next meeting, the allocation of funds to be left over until the report was tabled.

The amendment was carried by the meeting, Cr. Low dissenting, both when it was put as an amendment and when it was put as the motion. The Council had recently decided to give a subsidy of £45 to the Band uniform fund, providing that the Band raised a similar sum. Cr. Low moved that a time limit, the end of October, be fixed for the Band to raise their proportion. So far as he knew, the "night at the pictures" was the only move by the Band to raise money, and he understood that members of the Band were not pulling their weight even in this effort. The motion was carried.

Cr. Low, stating he was perfectly in accord with the £2OO being granted to the Mangapu Drainage Board, stressed the need for collaboration between the two bodies, and on his motion a sub-committee was constituted to meet the Board to go into the possible ways of tackling the willows inside the Borough boundary. Crs. Mackersey, Low and Douglas were appointed to this committee.