MERGING OF WHAREORA ROAD BOARD.

Northern Advocate, 28 April 1915, Page 2

MERGING OF WHAREORA ROAD BOARD.

(To the Editor.)

Si Fj —in the issue of your paper of the 12th inst. I notice a petition i purporting to be a desire of the ratepayers of the road district of Whareora to merge the Whareora Road ! Board into the County Council. As this petition was not presented to me, neither was I consulted as , to the correctness of the statements made therein, I would ask your indulgence, and request your permission, to allow m e to trespass on your valuable space.in order to place before the ratepayers of the district mentioned a true statement of facts as at present existing, or to be more correct, as existed when the last detailed County Council statement was submitted to the public, namely for the period ended 31st March, 1914. Clause 2 of the petition states as follows: — "That the cost of administration by the Whareora Road Board for the past year was, approximately, 18.09 per cent., making together with the county administration approximatejly 28 per cent., which could be materially reduced by the abolition of dual, control." ...

Now this clause, to say the least of it, is misleading. Each body collected the same amount of ordinary rates. We will say, for example, that each collected £100. Supposing I admit, for the sake of argument, that the cost of administration of the Whareora Road, Board was £18, as 18 per cent., and the administration of the County Council £10, or 10 per cent, making a tctal of £28 for the administration of £200, is that 28 per cent, as stated in clause 2? If it is too difficult a problem for those who concocted the petition. I would advise them to consult the first Third Standard child they meet. As a matter of fact, the amounts stated as, 18 per cent, and 10 per cent, respectively are far from correct. The revenue of the Whareora Road Board collected during the year ended 31st March, ~1914, was £105 2s 2d, and the total amount of expenditure outside of monies actually expended on road work was £11 12s, or practically 11 per cent. The balance sheet of the County Council which I have before me states in the general account as follows: —

"Total receipts collected . during thessa c period as that quoted for the Whareora Road Board is stated as £98.46. If it is fair to quote the whole of the expenses outside actual road work for the Whareora Road Board it is also fair to show the whole of the expenses outside of actual road work as stated in the County Council statement. These are as follow:—Salaries —clerk and treasurer, £300; assistant clerk, £84 16s 8d; late clerk, £35 2 S 10d; traffic inspector, £66 10s. Office cleaning and lighting, ; £34 ss; stamps, £.41 13s Id; telegrams and bureau fees, £19. Is Id; printing and advertising, £136 6s 6d; stationery, £45 1.9s 3d; office expenses, £ S 4s 6d; exchange on cheques and drafts, £3 6s 3d; Dog Registration Act expenses, £70 3s lid; licensing expenses, Bay of Islands County Council, ,£4 19s sd; electidn' expenses, ,£2; audit charges, two half years and annual, £20; legal ex-i penses McKinley v. County Council, £100 7s 10d; legal expenses, gen-| eral, £19 19s sd; travelling expenses,. £ 12S 9s :l0d; Valuation Act expenses,'£• 89 18s sd; public health expenses, £2; Alcoholic Liquors Sale Control Act, £34 14s 6d; telephones, £14 8s Id; subscription Counties' Association, £3 3s 6d; engineering, £325; road surveys, .'£ 59 18s 6d; purchase 'of road machinery, £275 ' 14s 6d; repairs to machinery, £49! 10s 8d; alterations to County Buildings, etc., £90 10s 4d; insurance under Workers' Compensation Act, j £37 9s 3d; registration under Factories Act, Us; Rating Act. expenses —rate summonsing:, £100 17s 6d; j rates refunded, £6 10s 7d; borough rates on County Buildings, £22 16s 8d; rents, £1; P.O. letter box rent, £1; miscellaneous, 7s; bank interest and charges, £274 17s 3d. Total, £2511 14s 4d.

This gives a total of £2511 14s 4cl, which is over 25 per cent, of the year's income. The amount shown for construction of roads and bridges is only £2028 Us Id., The amount transferred to separate accounts was ,€1994 17s, and the balance I presume went, to reduce the county's overdraft. It is unnecessary for me to make further comment, as these figures speak for themselves. However, I am certain that it is impossible for the County Council to administer the monies now received by the Whareora Road Board as cheaply as th e latter body is doing.

The only expenses that the Road Board incur are—clerk's salary £5

per annum, advertising charges, and a few small items for office expenses. There is no charge for an office or board room; these ar e included in the clerk's salary. The members of the Board get no travelling allowance, and the work on the roads is done under their inspection, without any engineering fees, and the •work done on the said roads compares favourably with that done on the County roads'.

Clause 3 of the petition states that if the control was all under one body th e works would be carried out more expeditiously.

This 1 entirely disagree with, as judging by the state of the County roads in the Board's district, the County Engineer has more roads than he can handle already, whereas those roads under the control of the Board are attended to as required, when money is available, and, as I have already stated, the whole of the income, with th e exception of the small expenses I have mentioned, is spent on the roads.

Clause 3 also contends that the County Council can do the work better, as it has road-making; machinery. I would like to point out. that all the recent jobs of any size undertaken by the Hoard Board have been done with a road machine. I might hepe statethat I pay more rates than any other ratepayer in the Road Board District, but there is no road leading to my property, except the County road on which my rates can be spent. If the Board 'is merged into-the County Council :i my rates will then be spent on the main road,, and there will be that 'much less to spend on the roads that are now under the control of the Board, and this is not an isolated instance.

Your paper of 1 3th inst. quotes an interview with a prominent signatory of the petition.

All that I can say is that I am sorry for his ignorance. He states that on one occasion it took ,£ 1 F>-

8s Gd to spend £10 17s 6d. This is a pure misrepresentation, as the income for that year was £78 19s sd, and although £10 17s 6d was all the money that was expended on the roads during the year, balance was held in reserve, in order to get gravel from the dredge, when available.

.This gravel was obtained during the next period, without any extra cost for. administration, and was placed on the roads at 2s 9d per yard.

If it had been expended in the same year in which it was collected, the gravel would have cost probably double the amount, so that only half the amount o>f gravel could ■•have been put on the ro%ds and the ratepayers would not have had the same amount of benefit.

I have heard comments about the Board keeping a balance of cash in haiid. I contend that it is a wise policy, as when an urgent job such as a bridge breaking, or bad holes in the road are brought under the notice of the Board, the work can be carried out and paid for without delay, otherwise the money would have to be borrowed from the bank, and part of the rates would, have to be expended in interest, instead of the whole income being spent on the roads as at present. Apologising for taking so, much of your space. —I am, etc. J. R. REYBURN, ' Chairman Whareora Road Board. Whangarei, April 26, "1915.