S.C. HOSPITAL BOARDS.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13899, 10 May 1909, Page 2

S.C. HOSPITAL BOARDS.

ESTIMATES AND LEVIES

Some adverse comment having been niuuc ny 'sumo ot tne local coiiti'ioutiug uuuus an increase ot tne levies nuu.e ' pun tiiciti by tne iiospnai anil Charitable Aid Uoaru tins year, me chairman o£ the Hoard on Saturday gave a "Herald'' representative an explaiiatioii of the matter for the infor■jtfhtidif r <jf'"those" concerned.

Statements of the Board's expendi-ture-last year, and of the estimates for the current year have been published, but apparently the Board's critics did not find them full enough. There would be found a few diitereances in the figures now to be given, on comparing them with the statements published and supplied to the local bodies, because the latter were made up in the middle of March, before the end of the year, and the balance-sheet made up after the close of the year made some trifling alterations in them. First, said Mr Gillingliam, he would answer a question sent in by the clerk tV> one of the local bodies: "What is the fl"ionnt of the rate struck this year?" The answer is that the Board does not strike a rate at all. It makes an estimate of the year's" requirements, and the total is demanded in lump sums from the local bodies in proportion to their rating valuations, —annual valuations lieing converted into capital valuations where necessary. The small amount required for the Talbot hospital is however levied .on a different •ivstem —on a population basis: Translated into terms of a rate, the levy lastyear was equivalent to a little over one-ninth of a penny in the-£ on the capital value of the district. This year the estimate, and therefore the levy, is larger, and the levy is equivalent- to about one-eighth- of a pennv in the £- Omitting the Talbot Hospital ac count- which is kept separate, the t levy made on local bodies last year produced £4416, and donations were £249. The Government subsidy of £ for £ on levies and 24s on donations, plus amount deterred from the previous year, totalled £5117; patients' payments and sundry small receipts were £441; a credit balance at the bank at the beginning of the year of £1246, and an overdraft of £948 at the close, made up the total on the receipts side to £12.417.

The existence of the overdraft of course implied that the expenditure was of the same amount. It was in excess of the estimate and of the provision made" for the year, because several unforeseen items of expenditure iiad to be met. These were: New buildings at Waimate £1284, extra maintenance at Waimate through the scarlet fever epidemic £SOO, construction of consumptives' shelters at Timaru hospital £250, and purchase of sanatorium site and fencing £'2Bo; total £2314. The actual deficiency at the end of the year was only £948, because it has for years past been the policy of the Board to manage its finance in such a way as to leave a credit balance in the bank at the end of each financial year, to enable it to carry on for the two following months without ovedraft, until the next levies become payable. Apart from those unforeseen items, last year's expenditure was £l2O less than the estimate, and the saving, added to the bank credit at the beginning and the debit at the close, paid for those extras. The levy for the current year has been made £6OOO, or £I6OO more than last year's receipt from this source, in order to provide (1) for the overdraft, (2) £IOOO for this Board's share of consumptive sanatorium- buildings at Fairlie, (3) a surplus at the end of the year, to carry on till levies are received, the Government- subsidy, of course, doubling the amount. The estimates for the current- year show a reduction on the actual expenditure of last year, apart from buildings. The expenditure and the estimate for Timaru hospital compare as follows (to nearest £).-—"Rations, £1286-1200: salaries, £'1731-1650; surgery and dispensary, £315-320: wines and spirits, £ls-10; fuel, £326-300;

light, £226-200; bedding and clothing, £l7O-50; furniture and crockery, £24110J; repairs, £174-150; asphalting, £3O-5; sundries, £27-25; water rates, £BS; printing, advertising, postage, etc., £43; fire insurance, £29; cartage, £l2; electrie■•light- and power (operating and - X-ray .-rooms), £4O; ambulance, ..£'ss; are estimates the same as last, year's expenditures. Total maintenance/ £4838-£4306. Other items of expenditure and estimates are alike : —Outdoor relief (including children boarded out and in industrial homes), £1967; Old Men's Home (total, £B7O less pensions £374), £496; of/ice expenses (secretary's salla ry, rent, members' expenses, postage, etc.), £350; other items, £l6O. "Waimate hospital maintenance was £1974 last year, this year it is estimated by the trustees at £1609. The Talbot hospital had a credit balance last year of £322. A levy of £3OO was made, and £3OO subsidy received, and patients' payments and a few small receipts (rent-, etc.) added £94; total receipts, £lOl6. The expenditure was £663, leaving a credit- balance of £353. The estimated cost this year is £502. and to meet this a levy of £IOO is being made, which, with subsidy £IOO and the credit balance, will provide £553.

The following has been the cost of maintenance (exclusive of buildings) of the hospitals for the several years in succession from 1899, to nearest £IOO: — Timaru —41—42—46—48—49. Waimate £9 —11 —10—B—l8 —11 —12 —12—12—12—15—19.

Tnlbot (from 1907, full amounts) — £332—330—637. Charitable aid, outdoor relief, including children boarded out and in homes, has cost for the same eleven vears to nearest £IOO: —£21 —17—18 " q 7_i9_2o—2o—l9—l9—lß—2o. The Old Men's Homo has cost during the same period, gross, from £4OO odd in the first four years, £6OO to £7OO odd in the next five years, aijfl £BOO and £B7O for the last two vears. Deducting pensions received, the n°t cost was in the neighbourhood of £3OO a year for three years nfter 1899, and subsequently about £SOO.