MOUNT EDEN BOROUGH.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13484, 10 May 1907, Page 6

MOUNT EDEN BOROUGH.

IMPORTANT STATEMENT BY * THE MAYOR. PROPOSED LOAN OF £12,000. ■'.■ ■■- ■':.■•■•■'■'■.■■■'. On* taking office for a second 'f-rra last ev-n, ing the Mayor of Mount Eden dealt ex- ' haustively with, the borough's finances, and at the same time made a proposition W th«» , raising of a £13,000 loan to carry out i* series of new and important forks. The total receipts for the past year, ho :-*id,. amounted to £5122 7s 3d, which, added to.; the £315 19s 3d credited to th*> various accounts at the beginning of the year, made /O £5933 6s lid available. The total expendi- '; ture amounted to £5396 3s 4<l, which left » balance in hand of £542 8s 7d. Among tho^■'-.'. items of expenditure were several, amount- '. ing in all to £767 0s lid, which would not f; : recur in futufo years. Tho result of the . year's operations so far as it affected the various wards was as follows:—No. 1 Ward •; '.* ; (cr.), £308 4s 2d; No. 2 Ward (or.), £153 li 3d;. 3 Ward (dr.), £249 13s Id No. * . ' Ward (cr.). £70 15* 9d. The water account , was in credit to the extent of £140 12s 6d. , : -'■■';{] This credit balance, however, included , -i moneys paid in advance for water .to bo sup- . plied up to June 30, 1907, and it was likely that at the end of December, 1907, there ■• would be a debit of £325, which must be ,-(.-.' taken as the accumulated loss for many ;> years. ' ■'",' ■ ' Continuing, tho Mayor said- there were : ,, various works which, in his opinion, should ~ .- receive consideration. Tho construction of-v y<electric tramwaTS upon both main roads m :• the, district, would probably be an accomplished fact before the close of tho present year. This would involve tho borough in '/. a large amount of capital expenditure for - tho purpose of reconstructing ' aud rcmeUl- .; ling such main roads, and tho work would Jit require to be taken in hand simultaneously with tho tramways construction. Ho pur-* posed placing before thorn a scheme under gg| which the necessary capital could bo found ttgg {or this and other permanent works in t,.e • ,■■? borough without increasing the present g|J rates Beforo doing so, however, it was re- || ouisite that ho should explain the valuations of the borough now existing for tho triennial period ending March 31, 1910. Inc. total annual valuation of all ratable pro- • perties in tho district amounted o £58,737, <,* made up as follows-No. 1 Ward, £17,719; f-< : No. 2 Ward, £12,355; No. 3 Ward, £16,939 No 4 Ward, £11,724. The annual valua- $ tion represented a total. capital value, token on a five per cent, basis, of £1,174,740. The capital value of non-ratable pwperies in the borough amounted to £103,420, > ( which brought the total capita! value Of ~,y; properties in tho borough to £,1,278,160. _ lit ~;. accordance with his instruction* Mr. Metcalfe, the borough engineer, had pro- \ pared estimates of various works which ap- ... peared to him urgently necessary. These estimates were as follow:-Forming Mount Eden Road, metalling outside tram ines, , forming footpaths on both sides, and kerb-, inc and channelling footpaths on west side,. /. £4394; forming Mount Roskill Road, metal- -j ling outside tram lines, forming footpaths on ..,-■ both sides, and kcrbing and chamiolhng jjootpath on east side, £4270; widening Bella.;: y Viio Head by St. Barnabas' f Hall to , full ,-.- ■width £480; alterations; in Belle Vue Road ■■~ near Leamington Road, and in Leamington Road, £740; excavation and formation works in " Sherbourne Road, £110; <>''' a :' tion and formation works a Bell wood Avenue, £430; kcrbing and channelling footpath in Epsom and Mount Albert Road, £150. To these works he would recommend ' should bo added the. following:-—Compensa-tion, widening Mount Eden Road by Bap- : • tist Church, £325; drainage Water-street, area, £350;- widening View Road at corner, . of Mount Eden Road (say 10ft), £150. This • Brought tho total estimated expenditure up to £11,399. ■■'■"■" '' • , .1 Ho suggested that tho Council should authorise those works to bo taken in hand during the existing year,' and for this pur- ■ poso authorise the taking of a poll of ratepayers to sanction tho raising of a loan, not : ; : • exceeding £12,000, at a rate of. interest not exceeding four and a-half per • cent. % per annum. The ;: balance. of the loan unexpended to .be. applied to , "water extensions" - in present water area* (new roads, etc.). Tho increase on such ft loan could ho' paid 'out T orthe- i gpneYa.r Jit > ;; como of the borough without the necessity of increasing the rates, which they would readily gather from the following information :A. general rate of Is in the £ would . give £2936 17s, while the Government subsidy would * give £250, making £3186 17s. Last year they had available from general';';;: rato and Government;subsidy, £3105 14s. The year finished with a ; credit balance of £127 19s lid, to which should be addedsurplus rate and subsidy, 1907-8, £83 3s and special expenditure,; 1806-7, as specified above, £742 0s lid, a total of £953 3s lOd. From this should-•■' bo deducted the annual amount required ; for lighting, as he intended to recommend' that the lighting : rate should be paid ill future out of general rates, say : £410, . leaving •'■ an available balance apart from ■ general ; administration expenses of £543 3s 10d,'which could be ap-' plied in payment of interest on £12,000 at'% 4i; per* cent.; ! £540. This, could; easily bo •- done for some years, as tho. increased valua-' tions, in the future, coupled with lessened ' '-■■ cost of, maintenance of ' roads ; permanently f ,•*, constructed, Would give increased return on ? general rate sufficient to meet the interest ( - charges. i

As he had .already, intimated his opinion was : that the lighting : ; - rate should be paid out of. the vgeneral rate. He therefore sug- >-; gested that they, should ; strike in ; the borough, for _ the ensuing year, the following . - rates: General rate. Is in the £; charitable aid rate, 2£d in the £: water loan rata No. 1 district, 2d in the £; water loan rate No.; 2 district, 3d in the £. The rates for, the year,. not including water '■ would then be: No.' 1 district Is 4£d in the £, No. 2 district Is 5Jd in the £, outlying • district Is 2£d in the £, which would mean that the Mount Eden Borough would be the Hf lowest ' rated borough in the ■■ suburbs of Auckland, besides being the. most populous ', and having the highest capital value of its r -l ratable properties. He suggested that the water, jrates for ordinary supply; during the ||| ensuing year bo as follows:-—Ratablo properties valued at under £12 10s per annum,'. ■»' minimum rate 10s per annum; valued at /.-' £13 per annum and upwards, five per : ..?Sy« per .annum.' This rate in conjunction with baths and water ' rates levied as at present would give an approximate income of £2730, < which would leave a balance of £300, sufficient to practically extinguish the above-' 'i mentioned deficiency of previous years. Th©' above assessment would moan an increase l over last year's assessment upon properties of the annual value of £18 to £30 of one' ~ per cent., £30 and upwards one and a-half -) per cent. He loft the above suggestions for their consideration, fooling assured that ' they would act thereon in such a way as " would . further the best interests of the borough.';'...":.'..'■ . *'' '.■..■:.. ■".;, ■ \ : /;<-^-P&v , Cor.- /deration of the matter was post- p ? poned. . . ;