MT. EDEN FINANCES

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 649, 29 April 1929, Page 10

MT. EDEN FINANCES

EXHAUSTIVE CRITICISM PLANKS OF PEOPLE’S TICKET An exhaustive criticism of the finances of the Mount Eden Borough was made at a meeting of ratepayers in the St. Alban’s Church Hall, Dominion Road, on Saturday evening by candidates comprising the peoples’ ticket for the forthcoming borough council elections. The candidates .present were Messrs. S. E. Chappell, A. P. Hartnoll, R. J. Mills, W. H. Nagle and F. L. Rendell. Mr. G. Wildish presided. In his address, Mr. Nagle said the debt of the borough was £749,198, as against only £250,000 in 1923. Despite the fact that the drainage scheme had been advanced considerably this big debt would come as a shock to the ratepayers, he said. There was a debit in the general account of £12,335, and the Avater account debit had increased from £686 in 1923 to £4,797 in 1929. Uncollected rates as at March 1, 1929, stood at approximately £14,000. If the council were called upon to square the rate account a rate of Is in the pound would be necessary, meaning an average levy on the ratepayers of £3. Mr. Chappell, in outlining the ticket’s roading and drainage polic} 7 . said that the £2,600 spent last year on road maintenance was a totally inadequate sum. In 1923 the grant had been £9,500. The proper upkeep of footpaths alone would cost more than the amount allotted to both roads and footpaths lasX year. In drainage matters, Mr. Chappell said, the definite promise given by the council that the clay areas in the MaungaAvhau district would be linked up first had been ignored. The “ticket” stood for immediate attention to any borough problems Avhich concerned the health of the residents. A unanimous vote of thanks and confidence in the candidates Avas carried.