THE CITY'S FINANCES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2934, 8 June 1910, Page 79

THE CITY'S FINANCES.

REPORT BY CITZ TREASURER. COMPREHENSIVE STATEMENT. An important and comprehensive report b*y the Finance Committee and the city treasurer on the state of the Dunedin City Corporation finances for the 12 -months ended March 31, 1910; a statement of receipt* and expenditure on general account; and the balance sheets and profit and loss accounts of the various municipal trading departments are contained in a document which has been issued and submitted to the City Council. The- report oi the city treasurer (Mr H. H. Henderson, F.1.A.N.Z.) is as follows: " Municipal Account. —This account must necessarilv be a summary of receipts and expenditure, and I have endeavoured, therefore, to make it as concise and cicalas possible by grouping similar items together, and where advisable deducting the payments from corresponding receipts or vice versa. I have dissected the receipts into two main divisions. The first portion, totalling £64,489 15s 6d, represents the income for the year, including the transfers from, the other departments. The second portion, amounting to £36,891 ,7s 7d, consists of special items which cannot be considered as forming part of the ordinary income, being comprised of trust monev and refunds from loan account. The items" on the expenditure side, totalling £63,021 8s 9d, are all in. the nature of ordinary expenditure. It will be observed that the income exceeds the expenditure by £1468 6s 9d. I have also prepared, tables showing the estimated income as compared with the actual, and the allocations as compared with expenditure. The allocation for city works was £18,002. less estimated refunds £9OO, leaving £17,102; whereas the actual expenditure was £19,613 0s 4d, less refunds £2347 16s 4d, leaving £17,265 4s, or an increase over allocations of £163 4s. "Gas Department.—The revenue for this department shows a shrinkage of £6BO 17s lOd as compared with that of 1909, but against this the expenses have been reduced by. £1658 2s Id (notwithstanding an increase in the renewal account of £1600), .leaving an increase in the net profits of £977 4s 3d. It will be "observed that ,the percentage of manufacturing, distributing 1 , and general expenses all show a reduction, while the net profit has risen from 12.1 to 14.4 per cent, of the total revenue. Accrued interest on loans is an item which has not previously been taken into account .when compiling these returns, and the amount here debited against profit and loss appropriation account—viz., £1691 represents the interest for the broken period between the date for the payment of interest and the 31st March in the financial year in which the loan was raised, and this amount should have been debited to interest account in that particular year. These remarks apply to each of the trading departments. After consultation with the chairman of the Finance Committee it was decided to write off the amount of discount on loans, and this has consequently been carried to profit and loss appropriation account. " Waterworks department shows a substantial profit of £9933 14s lOd, being an increase over la6t year of £1998 Is Id. The increase in. the maintenance account is largely accounted for by the necessary alterations to the 12in main in Wilkie road, amounting to £l2Bl 9s 3d, consequent upon the duplication of the railway line. In previous years the charge for Bpecial water supply for the quarter ending March 31 has not been taken credit for until the following quarter—that is to say, till the following year. For the year just ended, however, this amount has been included, and I have therefore carried the amount due at 31st March, 1909, direct to profit and loss appropriation account so as not to give last year an unfair advantage. The discount on loans account has also been written off. • "Tramways Department.—lt will be observed that the revenue has further increased by £3183 16s sd, of wmch £1938 17s 9d has been absorbed by increased expenditure, leaving an increased profit over the previous year of £1244 18s Bd. The percentage of the different expenses shows some slight variations. The cost of shifting the tram line, consequent on the widening of King Edward street, amounted to £1360 7s. and I have debited this amount against the profit and loss appropriation account, because, as Mr Alexander mentions in hjs report, it cannot be considered as a ligitimate debit against the year's working. " Electric Department.—Up to the present _ this department has not made any provision for depreciation, or for a renewal fund, and I have therefore debited profit and loss with £5125, being % -.t cent, on that portion of the property and plant which has been in operation since March 31. 1909. This amount is to some extent arbitrarv. but approximates very closely to Mr Stark's rough estimate of the amount required, which was properly based on a varying percentage according to the estimated lift* of the different portions of the plant. This question will doubtless be thoroughlv Tone into very shortly. The result of this entry is to turn what would : otherwise have he<m p. profit of £4130 9« 5d into a_ loss of £994 10s 7d. Eliminating depreciation for the sake nf comparison with the previous year it will he seen that the revenue has incre<"=°d bv £8337 1.5« 2d. and the outgoings bv £5061 1?« ftd (of which interest a<vonnt* for £2°4l 2s). leaving «. ne<t main of £3276 2s 6d. The percentage of total ont.Toinfs fa 85.3 of Ww» revenue, as compared 'with 95.7 for 1909. " Abattoirs and Woodhaiu'h Quarry.— Profit and loss accounts for these concerns are submitted herewith, the abattoirs showin a- a net profit of £513 I?* PA. and the quarry a ne.t profit of £R 15s Id." THE PUBLIC DEBT. The following is a. statement of the public dwbt of the city of Dunedin as at March 31, 1910: Amount Accumulated of Sinking Loans. Fund's. GerM'al ••.•• ... £ 204.725 £ 1,443 Water 221,535 3,887 Gas ... ... ... 108.000 527 Tram ,„ 300,000 10,699 Wainori ... ... 329,200 Total £1,163,460 £16,588