MUNICIPAL SALARIES.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 15956, 18 October 1922, Page 7

MUNICIPAL SALARIES.

Oft. BALD PROPOSES "CUT" IN ADMINISTRATION. .

A curtailment, to the extent oi' £IOOO, ol the adminiolrative expenditure ot th© Borough, Council was proposed by Cr. Ball at last evening's meeting of the Borough Council. The motion had previously wen given notice of, and it was anticipated! that there would be considerable discussion on the question. The motion was eventually put to the meetings after Cv. Ball had' propounded his views and' these had been discussed in a desultory way by tho Council, and was earned unanimously. . In opening, Cr. Ball said that he would have preferred to have placed his motion before the full Council, but since there' would be difficulty in obtaining a full Council for some little time, -he proposed to put forward his views, and tho Council could then, if it liked', defer discussion in the matter to a later date. He referred to a paragraph which liad been published, ascribing to him a ulterior motive in giving the notice of motion. He wished! to say that he had no purpose beyond that expressed in the motion. He mentioned' that officers of the Council had /taken the view that lie had had some ulterior motive, and there had' been, ho understood, some talk of resignations. It was unreasonable to talk of resignations when borough business was mentioned, and it would have been perhaps the best- course to have put m the resignations" and then let the Council discuss the matter. He simply wanted to effect economy in tho administrative staff. , The rates had increased 40 per' cent, in'tne past four years. And Bince'l9l7, the salaries had increased bv £3300; odd', from £42CO to £7500. representing 79 per cent. The borough ad ministration had had no policy, but had simply drifted', and therci had not been the .in efficiency which might have -E£mi expected for the increased salaries, yf had' remained for the present Council to-force upon the administration a direct saving of £IOOO in two items of expenditure alone. Oik item was that the. Council had been paying 4s- 6d pea- cubic yard of shingle- until Cr. Bickford's motion had effected a reduction, of Is per yard, on 8000 yards of shingle. This item represented £4OO. while another £6OO had: been saved' by the Council entering into negotiations for a supply of metal from Patutahi. The saving in this case had been 6s per square yard on 2000 yards. Cr. Bjall drew attention to the'fact that the engineer had allowed, in his road policy, 3f 8d pear yard for hauling and spreading metal on Childers Road. This means an average of 4s- per square yard' for the whole borough, and yet, according to official the haulage .and spreading from a motor lorry was bein? done at la per. yard. Cr. Ball considered that the positions of traffic and sanitary inspectors to tho borough could be joined, as the traffic inspector's worlwas.being practically duplicated by the police. The engineering staff was too treat for the normal needs of the borough. They did not need two engineers, a foreman, and a well-paid ganger. He admitted that at present, the whole of the engineering staff seemed" to br fully occupied in connection with the contract, but he could not see that under normal conditions, such a large staff war necessary. He touched upon the possibility' of a reduction of administrative salaries, but said that this was a matter for the Council to go into committee on. He > believed that they could 1 , without an- increase in revenue, put aside £2OOO per year for tar macadamising, and do about three-quarters of a mile. It was time that economy was put into effect. While* he was on the Council, he would stand*, for economy and efficiency in administration of the borough. iA . Cr. Coleman said that he did not want to see'sucb. a matter drop, and he would second, i be moti6n pro forma. He beBall's remarks very logical. but did not call for the motioiv proposed. To pass the motion would, bind the Council to effect the re duction, without indicating where the reduction was to be made. He would be willing to see the matter referred to a committee for discussion, but ho hardly through the motion necessary. • ' Cr. Todd - said that apparently Cr. Ball felt that the full discission of the motiojn should be postponed until a later meeting. The motion was very indefinite; Cr. Ball should have submitted something concrete; He quite believed that it; was time that a reduction of expenditure was made, but tho time to consider it was when the estimates for next year were being made up. He was considerably puzzled. Ho wouldiike to see reductions, but Cr. 801 l had failed to make clear where the reduction was going to come in. ' Cr. Bickford agreed that the motion was indefinite. He could not see how they were to economise to a fixed amount. If Cr. Ball would frame his motion so that the Council could go into committee, and pass on to tho new Council any recommendation it evolved', it would be more satisfactory. The Mayor also agreed 1 that there was a need' for economy. He thought the matter should be discussed later on. Cr. Ball asked what the Council wanted more definite than his motion. He maintained that the administration of the boruogh had been too expensive, for the size of the borough. Finding* fault with anyone would not get over the difficulty. It was for the Council to go into committee, but they would get no further by referring tho matter to a new Council. If the present Council, familiar with the circumstances, could not deal with the position, it was no good putting it on tot the new Council. If the Council went into committee, without fixing some definite sum, he was I afraid they would not get very far ahead. The motion was put to the meeting,' pnd carried unanimously. ,