The Taranaki Herald. (DAILY EVENING.) FRIDAY, APRIL 12, 1912. THE BOROUGH ACCOUNTS.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LX, Issue 143764, 12 April 1912, Page 2

The Taranaki Herald. (DAILY EVENING.) FRIDAY, APRIL 12, 1912. THE BOROUGH ACCOUNTS.

The particulars of borough receipts and expenditure furnished by the Mayor at the. last council meeting disclose a position which may be regarded as upon the whole satisfactory. Early in the year there was every prospect of the estimated expenditure being largely exceeded unless the prun-ing-knife was vigorously applied. In the first quarter of the year the streets vote of £2200 had been expended or anticipated to the extent of £1513, leaving only £686 to carr.y on with for the rest of the year. By careful administration the vote has been exceeded by no more than £477, and this is more than covered by amounts received under various heads in excess of the estimates, such as license fees, which yielded £3O more than expected, rents £3l more, dog tax £l7 more, water supplies £319 more, and rates £99 more. The revenue from the baths fell short of the estimate by £37, but against this there was a saving of £l2 in the expenditure on that account. The revenue was swelled by sums of £659 received from Fitzroyi £SOO on account of the Waiwalcaiho bridge, £llO from the Avenue Boad reserve, £544 for reimbursements on various accounts, £lO5 for sundries, including £75 for Tamar street, and a sum of £lß9l transferred from the electric light account to the general account. These sums swelled the total receipts to £23,175, or £4853 more than the estimate. The expenditure was greater than the estimate was by an almost equal amount, chiefly on similar accounts. The Waiwakaibo bridge cost £SOB and the Henui bridge £IOO, Fitzroy accounted for £970, and the electric light account was swelled by the sum of £1651 set aside far depreciation.. Among

tiie ordinary .expenditure there ■was a saving of £sl in the office expenses; the streets cost £466 in excess--of'the the reserves £lO3 in excess, due to the Avenue Road reserves being swciveyed and leased; sundries cost £l6l -in excess of the £WO' estimated ; bank interest showed a saving of £167; and other minor items varied one way or the other to a small extent. Altogether the expenditure was kept well within bounds, while the revenue was v quite up to expectations, and the year finished up better than might have been anticipated. A particularly satisfactory feature of the accounts is the good results obtained from the electric light undertaking. The working expenses for the year were £lß9 l , while the income was £5335, including £B4l for public lighting. Interest on capital £1213 has to be charged against, also £134 for sinking fund and £1651 for depreciation. After allowing for all this there is a surplus of £438, but the figures are subject to slight alteration when the March reading of meters is taken and the stock adjusted. They arc sufficient to show, however, that the borough has an excellent business, ably managed, in its electric light and power department, and also to encourage the hope that in the near future further substantial relief to the rates may be expected from this source.