RATES IN ARREARS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21853, 16 July 1934, Page 5

RATES IN ARREARS

FINANCES OF A BOROUGH ADMINISTRATOR'S TASK The administrator of the municipality at Bankstown, New South Wales, Mr. W. It. Wylie, discussing recently the financial position of the municipality, said that it was imperative that outstanding rates should be paid, and that he intended to secure payment. About 300 summonses have been issued against defaulting ratepayers. Some of the latter have paid when judgments have been secured, but others have not, and it is proposed to execute judgments where they are not satisfied. Mr. Wylie said that if the late council had maintained its policy there was little doubt that the funds would have been speedily exhausted and a receiver would have been placed in charge. Last year the council had been able to carry on with an overdraft, but its limit.of £31,000 had been almost reached when the council was dissolved. One of the •things he found, on taking charge, was that arrears of rates totalled approximately £113,000. Mr. Wylie said that the limit of the overdraft this year was £27,000.

The proportion of rates collected by tho council during 1931, 1932 and 1933, said Mr. Wylie, was 52, 54 and 50 per cent respectively, and the proportion of payments off arrears in the same years was 16, 24 and 16 per cent respectively. This year 27,757 rate assessment notices had been issued, of which 15,000 included arrears.