BOROUGH OF MAORI HILL.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 15858, 2 September 1913, Page 6

BOROUGH OF MAORI HILL.

MEETING OF RATEPAYERS. LOAN PROPOSALS FAVOURED. A meeting of the ratepayers of the South, West, and North Wards of the Borough of Maori Hill was held in the Council Chambers last evening for the purpose of considering the proposals of the council to raise loam lor works in those wards. •

The Mayor (Mr G. Butler) occupied the chair, and there were present—Cre Liliie, Beeby,. and M'Millan (representing South Warn), Cr Passmore (West Ward), Cr i' inerty (North Ward), and about 30 ratepayers.

: Details of the three special loans, amounting to £3700, and the works on -which, according to. the proposals, they are to be expended, were read by the town clerk as follow:—The sum of £2850, for the purpose of sireet construction in South Ward; £550, for street construction and street lighting in West Ward; £300, for street lighting in North Ward. The Mayor said that the meeting had been called for the purpose of explaining to ratepayers why the council proposed to raise a loan of £3700, and to give them an opportunity of expressing an opinion upon the eame. He could assure them that the matter had had the very careful consideration of the council. It had been a recommendation from the old council to borrow £600 for the purpose of improving Cannington road. Two of the present representatives of South Ward—Crs Liliie and Beeby —had given thi question their attention, and they thought it would be advisable to raise a loan to effect improvements to the whole of the word and to other parts of the borough. They had submitted the estimated- cost of the improvements to the council, and the proposed loan of £3700 was the outcome of their consideration. He then asked Cr Liliie to explain the purpose of the proposed ldan for work in South Ward.

Cr Liliie said that before ho spoke of the loan he thought tho present was a favourable opportunity to place before ratepayers the financial position of the borough. He did not think that the affairs of the borough had been properly placed before them at any time. He thought that' the clearer the financial state of affairs was known the better it would be for ratepayers and everybody else concerned. By means of a blackboard Cr Liliie then submitted to the meeting, figures which showed that the estimated revenue for tho year ending March 31, 1914, amounted to £1744 Is 6d, made up as follows:—Government subsidy, £187 10s; fees, rent 6, etc., £145; sanitation fees, £110; rates, £1301 lis 6d. Tho expenditure was estimated, as follows:—Management, £300; hospital and charitable aid, £2£o; sanitation, £150; interest, £260; street lighting, £215; Fire Board, £90. These items made a total of £1275, leaving a balanco of £459 Is 6d, They would see by the figures he. had quoted what- was actually received by the council and how much thero was left to use for carrying out work 6. Out of the sum of £469 Is 6d, however, the wages for three surfacemen, amounting; to £426 16s, had to bo deducted, leaving only £33 available for material. Thi? amount must be spread over the whole borough. Ho took it that the .primary duty of a borough council was to keep l the roads and footpaths in good order. He asked them what the council could, do with £33 in 12 months, spread over ihe whole of the borough. Ho I answered, nothing at all. The oouncil therefore came to thorn and asked them, to sanction tho raising of tho loan for doing the necessary work, In' South Ward they had been £52 to the bad in 1912, and £390 to the bad for tho year ended March 31, 1913. A revaluation of tho whole borough would be made this month, and it was hoped thereby to derive more money by the rates to carry out necessary works. The increased revenue, however, would not amount to anything like the cost ot the works schedule, which would require to be done at once.' In his opinion one of the works most necessary was that at Cannington road. Thero was a suggestion by the old council that £600 be spent on this road. Cr Beeby.and himself had gone carefully into tho matter, and they considered that there were other streets which needed improving, and so they had submitted to the council the question of raising a loan. If the ratepayers sanctioned it ho would undertake to gee that the monoy was spent on tho' street to which it was allocated. He explained in oonolusion that the ratepayers would not be oallcd upon to pay half cost of "forming channelling and footpaths. Tho loan had been increased to meet this.

Cr Becby said ho supported all the statements made by Or Lillie. He was strongly in favour of the loan. A DISSENTIENT VOICE. Cr M'Millan said that, as a councillor and reprcse\tative of South Ward, he considered it 'his duty to express his views on the loan proposal. ' Tho speaker detailed the incidents of his connection with the matter in the discussions, at the council table. The first proposal hiul been for a loan of £600 for Ca'nnington road. Cr Lillie moved that £1000 be borrowed, and he (Cr M'Millan) asked where tho other £400 was going to be 6pent, and the reply was, " Oh, -we ran easily find streets on which to spend that. 1 ' He opposed the motion, a 6 ho considered it was mo6t unbusinesslike to move for a loan and not know where it was to be 6pent. Crvs Lillie, Boeby, and himself then made an inspection of the ward, .and a list of the streets proposed to be improved wa6 drawn up. He foid ho would not support it. At the next meeting of the council Cr Beeby moved that the loan be increased to £3000. He (Cr M'Millan) objtcted, and as the result of a motion moved .by him a visit of inspection was mado by the wholo council. Some of the amounts were modified, and Or Beeby moved that a loan of '£2850 be raised. Ho (Cr M'Millan) tlwught the loan was still excessivo, but he supported the proposal to submit 'it. to the ratepayers for consideration. He now wished to state the reas6n6 for his opinion. He proceeded to mention several streets, 66ft wide, tho traffic on which, he thought, did not 'warrant their, ,being metailed to their full width, In addition to this not one of tho streets on the west side of High street' had been drained, and as the Drainage Board intended to; complete ihe drainage it was probable that the metal would no sooner bo down than it would have to be taken up again. He also thought that if the loan was postponed there was a probability, as the money market was becoming easier, of getting thj money at 4J- per cent, instead of's: per cent. If the loan were carried the result would be a serious one' for the ratepayers. At present the general rate was 2 3-16 d in tho £ on unimproved, values. It was now' proposed to add another id in the £ to pay for interest on the loan, whicfy was an increase of over 20 per cent, of the' amount now paid. The revaluation of the bor v.-;»li' would probably moan an increase to .iterates of 40 per cent. He was in favour, however, of giving relief to Canninuton

road, and, if the loan were rejected, hu intended' to move for a much smaller loan, which he thought would be sufficient to put road and every other street in the borough in good repair. What he ad-

voeated was, ho thought, in the best interests of the borough, and- he trusted that the ratepayers would not treat the matter with indifference. The Mayor said that notwithstanding the remarks made by Cr M'Millan he was still of the opinion that the loan was necessary. In regard to the re-valuation of the borough there were a number of . properties that were not valued as they should be WEST WARD IMPROVEMENTS. Cr Passmore said that he strongly supported everything Cm Lillie.and Beebv had said. Tho loan was badly needed. At the last meeting of the council, when the estimated cost of improvements was submitted, every councillor was unanimous in regard to the distribution of the proposed loan. Crs Lillie and Beeby had gone to a great deal of trouble in regard to the improvements required, and they deserved the thanks of the ratepayers. In regard to the loan for West Ward improvements, he did not think that one pen 1 !!;: had been spent wrongly there all the time ;he had been on the council. The roads were not in very good order. For the last threo years they had had more rain than ft/r tho 6ix years previously, and they had now got into a verv bad state. He hoped that ratepayers would sanction the raising of the loan. NORTH WARD, Cr Finerty briefly referred to the loan of £300 for street lighting, in North Ward. He said that tho council had .decided to carry out tho work, irrespective of tho carrying of the loan proposal. The poeta had already beon provided for the 11 lamps to bo erected, and tile, only way in which the loan would affect the South Ward ratepayers was tho alteration in the time allowed for-its repayment. A FAVOURABLE MOTION, ' The Mayor 6aid that after the explanations made ho hoped the ratepayers would jri vo their' henrty support to the raising of the loan. The poll would be taken on Friday next, and not on Thursday as had been "advertised. Mr C. Keay said that he was sure the ratepayers felt indebted to councillors for tho trouble thev had gone to in tho matter of improving the borough. Mr J. King said ho did not ocreo with Or M'Millan'a suggestion to metalling only the middle of the road. If this we're done tho 'drivers of vehicles would take to the sides and in wet weather they wduld beoosne impassable.

After several questions had been answered Mr C. Grant moved: "That this meeting of ratepayers support the proposal of the council to raise a loan of £3700 for borough improvements." Mr J. Griraaldy seconded the motion, which was carried unanimously.