MUNICIPAL TRADING

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24448, 6 November 1940, Page 6

MUNICIPAL TRADING

It cannot be a matter for surprise that the restrictions that are in force on the use of petrol have been reflected in the financial operations of the city transport service. A great many people, being unable to make the use of their motor cars to which they were accustomed, have been compelled to have recourse to the tramcars and city buses, to take them to and from their; places of business. The effect is shown in a substantial increase in the profits of the municipal transport department for the first six months of the financial year. This increase has been achieved, moreover, in spite of the fact that expanding costs have had, to be met. In Wellington, as may have been observed, the City Council has found it necessary to protect its tramway revenues by raising its fares. No corresponding action is anticipated here although Councillor Gibson, whose experience has been advantageously employed in his position as chairman of the Transport Committee,' is not at all optimistic about the results of the operation of the service for the current period of six months, for he anticipates that the profits for the first half of the year will have disappeared by the end of .March next. The most significant illustration of the effect of increased costs in the municipal trading schemes is provided in the results of the working of the Electric Power and Light Department. The wages bill for the six months was increased by £4OOO on a comparison with that for the corresponding period of last year, and the department had to pay twice as much for its oil fuel. As a consequence the profit was £13,111 less than it was in the first half of 1939-1940. A profit of £33,372 is, in the circumstances, one that affords cause for gratification, associated as it has been with the maintenance of a satisfactory service, and, as Coun-

cillor Taverner, chairman of the Finance Committee, observed, service to the consumers is a paramount consideration. The net profits of all the trading departments of the Corporation are shown to have been £6750 lower for the six-monthly period than they were in- the corresponding months of last year. It seems impossible that there can be a recovery of this amount in the remaining portion of the financial year and, to the extent that there is not, the calculations upon which the policy of the City Council for the twelve months has been based will have been distributed.