ST. KILDA MAYORALTY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21940, 29 April 1933, Page 10

ST. KILDA MAYORALTY

ADDRESS BY E. LONGWORTH There was a fair attendance at the Coronation Hall, St. Hilda, on Thursday night when Cr E. Longworth, a candidate for the St. Hilda mayoralty, addressed ratepayers of the borough. The Deputy Mayor of St. Hilda (Cr H, H. first made reference to his record of work in the borough, covering a' practically unbroken period of 15 years as a councillor. He had' given up a great deal of time to the service ot the Dunedin Drainage and Sewerage Hoard, and had been nine years on the Ocean Beach Domain Board, during which time great improvements had taken place. Two years ago he had been approached to stand as Mayor, but owing to the fact that he had then held an important post in the Manchester Unity Lodge he had been unable to see his way .'dear to devote hie time to the Mayors work. Now, however, he was free to do so. As the St. Hilda -Borough had now no trading concerns there was very little to discuss with electors. The schemes ot the past had come to fruition, and exceptional progress had been made. Ihe financial position was perhaps the most important part of the borough s activities to-day. So far as the borough was concerned; he claimed to have, a certain amount of knowledge of financial aftaire. In 1918 be first had an opportunity ot studying the finance of the borough under the then Mayor, Mr Edgar. The financial position at that time was poor, and several councillors were of the that they would not weather the storm. However, the results bad proved that Hie council had done the right things, and for what had been, done he claimed a shaie of the credit.' . . Cr Longworth quoted figures to show how the borough had progressed. Ibe position, he said,/gave them caa ®®. satisfaction, because, while there were no sinking funds carried with the earlier loans, there were sinking funds pro vided for in later years, the consequence being that the was decreasing year after year. Ihe PUDiic debt on March 31, 1933, was £83,000, but there were accrued sinking funds o £lO 827 16s sd, amounting to 13.04 per cent, of the gross indebtedness. In spite of the fact that the council had had little money to come and go on, it had. made rapid progress. The St. Hilda. standing charge* were £10,685, made up as follows?—lnterest, £4480; water. £3OOO, sinking fund. £1750; street lighting, £6OO, fire protection, £550;. Domain Board, £175; interest on a nine-inch water main, £l3O. Against- this, ,the rates for last year had come to £14,248. ■ After stating that the overhead for the last .12 months in regard to unemployment had come to £BOO, Cr Longworth said the council would now have to fix the rates for next year. He was not going to promise that there would be a further reduction, but there was a possibility that a slight decrease would be passed on. But, against this, there would be an increase ,in the_dramage rate, th borough having to find £SOO to meet the increase. The hospital Board rate would also be a little more. It was hard to see how a reduction in rates could be ex. pected, but the council was doing what it could to meet the ratepayers. In the first place it must. pay its way bef °™ could give concessions. • Quoting figures to demonstrate how rating, etc., worked out, the speaker took as an example a property worth f 100, and showed how the rates on such a property came to £4 os 3d. Out of this the council had to pay 13s 4d to the Hospital Board and £1 4s 9d to the Drainage Board, making a total of £2 8s Id to, be paid out of the £4 Cs 3d. ... Under the borough’s system, provision was made for a revaluation every seven years. The last one had taken place in 1925-26, and pow they had asked the Government that a valuer be sent flown as early as possible. Probably the revaluation would take place within a tew months. When this wa? done they would,, in all probability, have a different rate, as they expected a decrease in the capital Ta Cr ’Longworth went on to outline the works of the borough, stating that good use had been made of the last loan for improvements. One or two streets were not vet up to the mark, but practically a 1 had been properly kerbed, channelled, and tar-sealed. There were figures to show how the various streets had benefited from the allocation from the petrol tax account. It was safe to say that the streets that had been overlooked m the past would share in the petrol tax allocation. .... . . _ The candidate concluded by stressing the council’s sympathy with the uiieniployed. Like the city, the borough thought the time was opportune for the Government, through the Unemployment Board, to take its fair share of the responsibility in the matter of giving relief. The time had passed when local bodies should be asked to find the °y e T“ head expenses. The speaker said that "it he were returned he would be prepared to stand down as Mayor at the .end ot his two years’ term in favour of other senior councillors, He thought the, office should be a rolling one—(Applause.) , A vote of confidence in Cr Longworth was carried. ‘