BOROUGH ESTIMATES

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 58, Issue 4188, 24 May 1939, Page 7

BOROUGH ESTIMATES

AN ANIMATED DISCUSSION. HOW TO REDUCE THE RATES. A week or so ago Te Awamutu Borough Council held a special meeting to consider the estimates for the current financial year, and after a very protracted discussion the meeting was adjourned until Monday evening, when all councillors were present except Cr J. A. Maxwell, who, however, wrote expressing regret at unavoidable absence as he was in hospital. At the outset Cr A. Rowan moved adoption of the estimates with the exception of donations to the Band and the Beautifying Society. He added that he would like further information re the Fire Board and loan conversion commitments. He said there was no balance-sheet from the Band or the Beautifying Society, and he thought there should be more facts as the Council was asked to expend its funds. Cr A- C. Brookes seconded pro forma, with the reservation that he should be allowed to comment laterCr C. J. Spiers said he wanted to propose an amendment, but he was informed that he could bring forward any criticism after the motion was disposed of. AN EXCESSIVE RATE. The contention of Cr Spiers was to the effect that the estimates provided for a rate of Is 4 J, which he considered excessive. The estimates should be pared down considerably. He then asked councillors to note that the Hospital Board levy had been increased by 7-16 d; That was, perhaps, beyond the control of the Council. Street lighting Tejireseinted an increase of 3-16 d. He would not object to that if the extra lights were available this winter, especially the lights in the residential area. No. 1 conversion loan was apparently a rise of l?d on the former rate. Councillors had not fully realised the position. The clerk should have insisted that the Council was poaching on credits, instead of letting ,the money be exhausted. A POINT OF ORDER. At this stage the town clerk (Mr D. Bockett) said the conversion loan payments were a trust, and had nothing to do with the general account or the water account, which were under discussion. Cr Rowan rose to a point of order. Cr Spiers, continuing, said the ltd should not have been charged against the conversion loan, but against the general account- No. 2 conversion loan was quite in order. 'Re the water loan the estimate for a profit of £4OO was very reasonable, and he was optimistic enough to expect to see that profit doubled. But, said Cr Spiers, he would advocate a reduction in the general rate of Id in the £, accounting for £240. He favoured deleting the Band subsidy, as the Band was being granted authority to sub-let the band-room. The Council could perhaps make a vote later in the year. The Fire Board levy was reasonable, but he regretted that no balance-sheet of the Board was available. REDUCED EXPENDITURE. Summing up, Cr Spiers advocated a reduction in expenditure of £l5OO, or lsd in the £, in the general account. Re the street widening in front of the premises in Sloane Street of Messrs C. T. Rickit and Sons, Ltd., Cr Spiers considered the payment of compensation should not be a charge against the ratepayers this year. It should be carried forward as an overdraft until the return of the Mayor (Cr G. Spinley). Cr Spiers said he had deleted £BOO for cartage and freights, and also the amounts listed for operating motor lorries £430, repairs to plant and maintenance £350. and several smaller items. Cr Spiers said his total deletions amounted to £5630, and in lieu thereof he would place £2500 available for the works committee. That would avoid the phenomenal rise of rates to Is 4id, which was far too high. The Council owed a duty to its ratepayers to keep expense down, seeing that all reserve funds had been expended. MONEY WASTED. At this stage Cr J- Sterritt arrived, and Cr Spiers asserted that the Mayor and Cr Sterritt (as chairman of the legal and finance committee) had been remiss in not placing all the facts before their fellow members of the Council. For lack of that information the Council had blundered along in the dark and wasted much-needed money. It seemed to Cr Spiers that it was vitally necessary to cut expenditure down to the lowest. The Council should, for one thing, know how the works foreman’s wages were allocated. Cr Spiers contended that there was no need for a rate this year of more than Is 2 id in the £. He would perhaps be accused of clogging the wheels of progress, but he would welcome constructive criticism. Cr W. J. North, seconding Cr Spiers’ motion to reduce the rate to Is 2id in the £ said the proposed Is 4 id was squeezing the ratepayers too hard. He itemised the main features of the estimates to show that it could be done. Cr Spiers mentioned that the borough engineer had recommended only necessary work, but in view of the acute state of the finances he (the speaker) thought that most of that work must be deferred for a year. Thereafter the engineer could concentrate on providing better footpaths, which served 80 per cent of the burgesses. AN ABSENT COUNCILLOR. At this stage a letter from Cr J. A. Maxwell (in hospital) gave his view that he viewed with alarm the proposal to increase the rate to Is 4id. He counselled cutting down expenditure to the lowest possible figure till

the various accounts were again in credit.

Leave of absence was granted to Cr Maxwell, with an expression of sympathy with him in his illness, and the hope that he would soon be recovered in health and be again able to take an active part in the interests of the burgesses and ratepayers. The deputy-Mayor (Cr J. C. Montefiore) contended that the amendment was “ tying up ” the works committee. He suggested dealing with the estimates item by item instead of making a proportional reduction en bloc- He mentioned that that was the practice in past years, adding that it would be very necessary to preserve the present assets. Streets and paths could not be allowed to get into bad condition, which would cost ever so much more to restore to normal later on. He was agreeable to reduction of some items. Cr Brookes said the collective rate was only Is 3d in the £. 'The extra lid on the water account would not be collected. Thus the increase was not much higher than usual. The Council had for years been relying on subsidised labour, and it must prepare to do without that assistance. Some of the liability was a legacy from past Councils. BALANCING ACCOUNTS. To Cr Rowan: The Hd water rate must be struck, but it need not be collected. The chairman agreed. Cr Rowan wanted to know particulars of the conversion loan provision. Cr Spiers, to Cr Brookes: It is necessary to balance the finances, with all rates considered. We must not confine ourselves to the general rate. That would be entirely wrong. Every councillor should be made conversant with every fact. The town clerk had distinctly said the water rate of lid would have to be collected. The town clerk said there was confusion about the security rate for water loans and the water supply rate. Cr Brookes said the first five items on the estimates could not be altered, so it was no use discussing them. TOWN CLERK EXPLAINSBy permission of the Council the town clerk explained the various accounts. He said the deficit was not £l5OO, as had been stated, but actually £968. The borough’s finances were really in a good condition. There was no doubt about that. Then the clerk proceeded to give details, and showed how some items had been transferred to the general account — items such as heavy traffic fees, licence fees, etc. The hospital levy had gone up to £747, which was nearly double the rate previously. If all rates were paid there would be an estimated credit balance of £99. The cost of street lighting was up on account of more street lights being pro - vided,- leaving a balance of £95 14s. The cemetery account was in the same position as a year ago. As to the water supply account of £lO,OOO, interest had to be paid. Actually the rate struck as security for the last water supply loan of £10 ; 000 had not been collected; the interest had been paid out of profits. Furthermore, an amount of £lboo from profits had been paid into the original water account. The Puniu bridge loan account, £lO 5s 7d, had been paid out of the general account. The sale yards loan account interest was never collected as a rate; the interest was paid out of revenue. Mr Bockett said that the conversion loans seemed to be troubling councillors, but all State Advances loans had been converted into one. The total payment was £3625 annually. That entailed a rate of 15-16 d, which would meet the sum named and leave an estimated surplus of £lB4 7s 5d if all rates were paid. Street lighting required a rate of id in the £, estimated to produce £451 . The total interest rates provided £4140, leaving

a balance of £5OO 9s 4d. He reminded the Council that the day following the end of the financial year there was a commitment of £968 to meet, an interest payment. The total consolidated rate for loan conversion was 7id in the £. USED AVAILABLE CREDITS. To Cr Rowan, the clerk said the late Council had used all available credits in the loan conversion account to avoid increasing the rates. Cr Rowan said that was interesting in view of the criticism that new councillors were the cause of the rates having to be increased. He thanked the town clerk for his information. The old Council should “ carry the baby,” and not blame new councillors. It seemed that there was about £l5OO of credits, and all had been used by the past Council. It was really spent before the new councillors assumed office. The deputy-Mayor said the money had formerly not been needed, so it accumulated; but last year it was needed. . Cr Spiers thanked the town clerk for the information. To a further remark, Cr Brookes said the rate collected for the conversion loan was insufficient. Cr Spiers wanted to know how the credits were used. The town clerk said the money in the loan conversion account could not be, and was not, used for general purposes. COUNCILLOR STANDS FIRM. Cr Spiers said he would stand firmly to his contention that all the works committee should have to spend this year was £2500. An alternative suggestion was to pay the £969 due on 2nd April, 1940, by arranging an overdraft, instead of budgeting. for that amonut this year. Cr Brookes: It still has to be paid, whichever way you look at it. It is only putting off the evil day. ITEM BY ITEM. At this stage it was agreed to deal with the estimates item by'item. Each item was carefully considered and discussed. Some were reduced, and none was increased. Agreement was reached eventually on several items, bringing the total expenditure to £2970.

Cr Spiers still contended that £2500 was the absolute maximum.

The engineer (Mr R. P. Worley) said he had not set aside any item for general maintenance, but if no road-roller was purchased money could be provided for patching roads and footpaths in various parts of the borough. He had also not provided for uplifting subsidies from propertyowners for concrete crossings or concrete frontages. Cr Brookes said he would agree to biing the total allocation down to £3230. Cr Spiers: My limit is £2500. It was shown that there was no provision for £3OO for sewerage connections, material, and labour. COMPROMISE. A spirit of compromise was suggested to bring the maximum to £2750, plus the £3OO for sewerage. Again referring to the widening of Sloane Street, Cr Spiers said that the Mayor had assured the Council that the compensation paid to Messrs C. T. Rickit and Sons, Ltd-, would not be a charge on the ratepayers. In view of that assurance he advocated carrying over that amount until the Mayor returned, so that the matter could he cleared up. He felt that it would be quite unfair to collect from the ratepayers at the present' stage. He moved to that effect. Cr Brookes, seconding, said the possibility of getting payment from property-holders across the street for betterment might be investigated. The deputy-Mayor said it was quite unfair to blame the Mayor in his absence. The negotiations had been long continued, and he (the speaker) firmly believed that the Mayor was not responsible for any of the delay. Mr Spinley really believed he had an assurance from the Highways Board that that body would meet the cost of compensation for the land acquired. Cr Rowan said the Highways Board had wanted an estimate of the cost in black and white, and apparently that had not been supplied until after the work had been completed. Cr Spiers said his idea was to carry the £747 in suspense until next financial year, at an interest cost of £lO. Meantime the Mayor would have returned, and he would very probably straighten out the matter. No councillor was in a position to do so. On the vote to carry over the compensation payment, the voting was: For, Ci’s A. C. Brookes, C. J. Spiers, and L. S. Armstrong; against, Crs J. C- Montefiore, W. J. North, J. Sterritt, and A. Rowan. Cr Spiers claimed that the deputyMayor’s action was actually putting the ratepayers to the expense of an extra half-penny in the pound on their rates, and he would have many critics when the facts were known. RATE INCREASED 3?d. The town clerk, collating the decisions reached, said the total consolidated rate would now be Is 3id, of which the general rate would be 411-ld. Last year the rate was llid. The total estimated receipts are £7984 Is 6d, and expenditure £8236 16s lid, leaving a deficit of £255 15s sd. Cr Brookes then gave notice to move the adoption of the rate schedule. The next meeting of the Council will be held on Bth June, a Thursday (altered on account of the King’s Birthday). The chairman congratulated councillors on the careful and thoughtful consideration that they had given to the estimates. He felt that the ratepayers would be appreciative of the “ whittling down ” process, but added that last year the rate was purposely kept low, for the reserves were to be drawn upon. This year it was necessary to have more money to keep up the Council’s assets sealed roads especially needed attention—and that was the guiding factor in the recommendations of the works committee.

During the discussion it was shown that a farthing rate provided £225.