TAIERI COUNTY COUNCIL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2059, 10 August 1893, Page 14

TAIERI COUNTY COUNCIL.

A special meeting of the Taieri County Council, to pass the balance sheet, was held at Mosgiel on Friday, and attended by Crs Snow (chairmam), Chisholm, Graham, Roberts, Thomson, Andrew, Todd, and Bunting. On the motion of the Chairman tho balance sheet was adopted. Cr Roberts remarked that the net result of the year seemed to be that the council had drifted to the extent of about £450 on the general account. The Chairman : That is so. .Cr Roberts observed that the new rate would bring in about £1290, so that in the incoming year (unless the expenditure as a whole decreased) they might expect a reduction of somewhere about £750. So far as the expenditure for the ensuing year was concerned he thought, on looking over tbe items for the past year, that law expenses (£59) might be reduced by £59. The Clerk explained that the law expenses were incurred in the old case of Miller v. the Outram Road Board, and that the county received £117 in respect of it. , Cr Roberts said that, owing to the shrinkage in works, there would probably be a saving of £32 in the engineer's commission (£132). He did not know if councillors agreed with the idea that they should discontinue the small, birds' allowance (£120). It was a very urgent thing, no doubt, but they were making the whole county pay for the benefit of the few. " Tools and material" (£111) might be reduced by a few pounds ; the "merged road board, Outram " (£49) would not occur again ;• "purchase of roadlines" (£SO) would not be incurred again ; and " interest on overdraft " (£301) might be decreased by £50. If these savings were effected, a reduction of £412 would be saved on the whole amount expended : and assuming that the expenditure on works and roads was the same as last year (£-2513) and that the expenditure on bridges (£625) be decreased to £100— which seemed reasonable— The Chairman remarked that the Greytown bridge would require to have a considerable sum spent on it. Cr Roberts said, if £500 were provided for that, there would be a reduction of £12C0 in the county liabilities. Cr Thomson said it could not be done. Cr Roberts pointed out that the id extra rate would come to £1290. Cr Thomson said they could not reduce the item for tools and materials. Taking the expenditure all round, he did not think there was. any

hope that their finances would be easier this year than last. The Chairman : They are clamoring enough for new works at the present time. Cr Roberts said if no economies were effected at all, and works were to progress in the same way as last year, the net result would be that there would be a decrease in their liabilities of somewhere about £300. At the present time the indebtedness of the council on the general fund was £6061, but this was reduceable by arrears of rates and arrears of Government subsidy, amounting to £1480. • Cr Thomson did not think the council charged enough against the thirds and fourths money. He considered that fund should pay all the engineering expenses connected with it, travelling expenses, and part of the inspector's salary. The Chairman remarked that all the parties receiving the benefit of the thirds and fourths money were ratepayers, who contributed to the general fund of the county their share of the rate 3. Cr Roberts believod that three-fourths of the thirds and fourths money came from the east side of tho Taieri river. That district last year had not asked the county to expend a single farthing of the fd rate collected from the settlers, so that the entire rates from that district had not been trenched upon in any way whatever. All the road works from the Three o'Clock creek to the Taieri river had been constructed entirely out of thirds and fourths, and the only piece of road for which county funds were utilised was about a mile and a-half from the Middlemarch Btation to the Cottesbrook bridge. After further discussion, Cr Graham expressing the same views as Cr Thomson had urged as to the advisability of charging portion of the expenses of administration against the thirds and fourths fund, the chairman was authorised to sign the balance sheet.