STREET LIGHTING COSTS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21324, 27 October 1932, Page 13

STREET LIGHTING COSTS

FIGURES GIVEN BY BOARD LOCAL BODY CRITICISM ■ Dissatisfaction with the details given by the Auckland Electric-Power Board at a recent conference of local bodies regarding street lighting charges was expressed at a meeting of the One Tree Hill Borough Council last evening. "The conference has not elucidated tho position," said Mr. L. Mandeno. "In fact, subsequent inquiry has convinced me that most of the information given was misleading. We were assured that the costs placed before us were in every case taken from tho board's balance-sheet, and that the revenue derived from street lighting showed a profit of only about 1 per cent over actual cost. "In an attempt to justify an annual charge of 14 per cent on capital we were informed that interest was charged at 63 per cent, because the street lighting system was constructed out of a loan on which that high rate of interest was paid. Subsequent inquiry has, however, shown that this is incorrect, as no loan raised by the board has cost more than 5i per cent. The loan out of which we were explicitly informed that about 77 per cent of the street lighting work had been done was actually raised by the Auckland City Council in 1921 for the definite purpose of changing over the tramway supply from Hobson Street to King's Wharf station. "This was before the constitution of the Power Board, when the Auckland City Council had no authority to supply outside the city boundaries. After the board was formed four years elapsed before the street lighting was carried out, and during that time the board raised four loans totalling £BOO,OOO. Is it reasonable to suppose that a balance of the high-priced money was carefully put away for four or five years to carry out the suburban street lighting ?" It was decided to ascertain what further relief the Power Board would grant local bodies.