BOROUGH FINANCES

Southland Times, Issue 19517, 17 May 1922, Page 5

BOROUGH FINANCES

A SATISFCTORY YEAR SURPLUS OF OVER £4OOO When the annual statement of the Borough accounts were referred to by the Mayor (Mr J. F. LiUiarap) at, the Council meeting last night, he said that tbe surplus of £4OOO odd was a matter for congratulation. It was not every public body that could make such a satisfactory showing at the present time. Of course, it would be said that it was easy to show a surplus by raising the rates, but they all knew that at the beginning of the year the Council ws® faced with a serious jxjsition and it had been necessary to tackle it courageously. Now they knew their action had been justified, for a surplus was shown and most of the departments were in a better position than was expected at the beginning of the year. When they saw reports about conditions in other places they saw that they were in a very fortunate position. This, however, had necessitated hard work by the Council, the members of which had probably attended more meetings during the year than any other council. Tbe Mayor closed his remarks with a tribute to thp Town Clerk and his staff. He said that Mr Burwell had had a very strenuous time and the Council had received every assistance from him. MAIN POINTS IN THE STATEMENT. A surplus of £4218 is shown, as against an estimated surplus of £1369. The actual expenditure under the general account is £27,297 2/5, which is £1789 below the estimate. Th? principal “unauthorised” detail is £B6 18/11 spent on the Jubilee celebrations. 'Hie receipts were £28,252 2/1, short of tbe estimate by £834. Auctioneers’ licenses are £l4O less than the estimate owing to division of the fees. There is a credit balance of £134 7/6 in the gas street lighting account. The net expenditure under the public works accounts- (£10,999 18/6) was £1593 less than was estimated. The public conveniences account shows £512 as against £516 11/10 estimated, and the Town Clerk recommends a reversion to the old charges so far as the men’s convenience is concerned. A credit balance of £520 15/- is being carried forward in the sanitary account, th® receipts exceeding the estimated expenditure by £285 10/-. In the sewerage maintenance account t.ho debit balance of £357 1/8 has been reduced to £l4l 5/-. When an adjustment is made in the 1922-23 accounts the debit balance will be converted into a credit balance of £l5B 15/-.

The cost of maintaining reserves and endowments was £250 16/6 less than was estimated. A credit balance of £1065 2/5 is carried forward under the cemetery account. There was £1948 4/8 (estimate £1766) expended in connection with Victoria Park, of which the golf links absorbed over £374. The receipts amounted to £1545 19/1 (golf links £290), being a debit balance of £22813/11. Thefire prevention account shows that the estimated and actual expenditure differ very little. The sum of £630 8/- was spent on staff, £223 11/5 on general £215 0/4 on miscellaneous, £lOOO is transferred to the roadworks account and the ambulance cost £56 4/5 to run. A transfer of £2,037 12/8 is made from the general account. A credit balance of £2958 11/2 is given in the accident insurance fund account. The expenditure in connection with the waterworks was £13,173 12/8, as against an estimate of £14,164. The credit balance is £1506 9/5, receipts amounting to £15,806, 8/2. The total expenditure was £991 under the estimate. Under the harbour and reclamation account £2,099 16/- was expended and the debit balance stands at £4473 13/8, a reduction of £586 1/7 for the year. The deficit in the abattoirs account is £3Ol 10/6 and the previous debit balance is increased thereby to £562 2/1. The Town Hall and Theatre account debit balance of £l6l 3/5 is converted into a credit balance of £173 6/2. The receipt! amounted to £2903 1/6 and the expenditure to £2568 11/11. The theatre contributed £1423 16/- in rents and the Victoria Hall £325 17/6. The Greenhills quarry shows a loss of £lll 19/10 on the year. The expenditure under the Public Library account was £3412 10/5 and the receipts £3477 5710. The debit balance stands at £2977 7/3. The gasworks account shows that tbe debit balance was reduced by £34 8/7, but the Town Clerk estimates that a loss will be disclosed when the stocks are taken into account. The debit balance stands at £12.612 10/11. The tramways account shows a surplus of £262 17/7. The receipts were £27,969 3/3 and the expenditure £27,706 5/8. Th< debit balance of £2229 18/3 was reduced to £1967 0/8. The electricity account expenditure was £23,598 0/4 and the receipts £24,997 9/9. The previous credit balance was £13,06018/L Tbe tramways used 523,506 unite and the Electricity Department 1,727,086 unite, equal to 1.813 pence per unit, including interest and sinkink fund, but excluding provision for renewals. A loss is shown in the interest and sinking fund account, the receipts being £16,824 11/3 and the expenditure £17,464 1/7. The total interest paid out during the year was £41,853 18/7. The actual revenue receipts exceed the estimate by £4337 6/4 ; they amounted to £179,348 6/4.