CHRISTCHURCH.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9535, 6 May 1909, Page 4

CHRISTCHURCH.

Last evening the Mayor of Christfchurch, Mr Charles Allison, was installed for his second term of office. The ceremony was a brief, formal proceeding, prefaced by the usual review of the year's work. Among those present were Councillors W. H. Cooper. T. Gapes, H J. Otley, T. N. Horsley, 3. Forrester, C. Taylor, G. W. J. Partorn, Gr. Hy«!e, A. Williams, C. D. Morris and Dr Thacker. Apologies foi absence were received from Councillors A. H. Webb, J. J. Dougall arid H. B, Sorensen,, who were out of _ the city. There were a number of visitors, including many ladies, present, as well as the chief officers of the Council. In reviewing the work of the- pasi year the Mayor said that the year hac been.arduous, and the new year woulc probably be arduous, because they would nave to carry out works already Authorised, notably the water supply pystem. Among the works authorised last year were tne concreting of channels and asphalting in St Albans, and the extension and alteration of thfe city's electrical plant. Some of the work would have been pushed on faster had'it not been for the financial stringency, which had crippled many industries. At one time the debentures were not being sold, and the Council had nearly bjfeen in a tight fix, but fortunately the difficulties had been surxnpuntea. The estimated receipts on the general account, exclusive of bath maintenance £800, and portion of the Central Ward general rate levied to pay interest" on loans, had been £66,057 7s lOd, and the actual receipts £54,076 3s Bd, a difference of £11,981 4s 2d. This shortage in receipts was. accounted foi- by 1 the unusual delay on the part of the Valuation Department in delivering the new valuation rolls. This had resulted in the additional charge of 10 per cent on unpaid rates not becoming chargeable until April 30. If the ipenalty aid not fall due before March §1 it resulted in an extraordinary amount of rates remaining outstanding at the close of the year. Last year the penalty had become payable about March 27,. and the amount of general rite outstanding was £1780. This year when the penalty became chargeable the percentage of rates outstanding was aliout the average on March 31. The estimated expenditure, exclusive of bath maintenance and a portion of the Central Ward general rate, had been £64,864 16s lid, and the actual expenditure £61,878 3s Bd, leaving a surplus of £2986 3s Bd, The debit balance on the general account on.March 31, 1908, had been £34,914 13s lOd (electrical plant account £15,386 2s Bd, general account £19,628 Is 2d): the debit balance on March 31, 1909, on electrical plant account had been £12,083 os. 108,-advances to loan accounts £1677 6s 4d, and general account £27,402 14s, a total of £41,-163 Is 2d. There was an increase in the aggregate of £6248 17 8/ 4d. Of? that amount £1677 6s 4d would be repaid from loan accounts and the balance was more" than accounted for by the abnormal amount of outstanding rates »h March 31. The, Sydenham waterworks maintenance account showed a debit'balance of £970 2s 4d, but against that there were outstanding rates, and water charges amounting to £1176 14s 7d. Unless an -exceptionally heavy rate was levied to. wipe off the overdraft the account, was likely to show a debit for some time to come, as the second half .of the water rate would not be collected until the next financial year. The, electrical maintenance account would show a surplus of receipts over expenditure of about £3230, but that was not on the basis of profit and loss account, which would be prepared when the accounts were finally completed. TTnder the existing system it was almost impossible to get the rates in before March 31 unless the 10 per cent penalty became recoverable before that elate. The collector did his utmost to get the rates collected, but, unless legal proceedings Vrete commenced much earlier in the year, the bulk of the rates would not be paid until shortly before the penalty was enforceable. The Mayor went on to detail the contracts that had been let during the year, and said that fifteen miles of footpaths had tson tarred in the Central Ward. The metal delivered in the various wards had been :—Central 10,924yd5, Sydenham 4303 yds, St Albans 4959yd5, Linwood. 8996 yds. The length of the streets sheeted with metal was as follows :—Central Ward 347 chains, St Albans. 139 chains, Sydenham 150 chains, Lin wood 132 chains, a total of nine miles 48 chains. The number of premises connected with the water supply was 2008 in Sydenham and 42 in Christchujroh., There were 807 meter connections in Sydenham and 42 in Christchurch. The water pumped was 81,145,000ga1, and out of this 6,151,700 gal had. been used for street watering. The footpaths tarred" in the various wards had been as follows:—Central 15 miles 52 chains, Sydenham 4 miles 5 chains, St Albans 7 miles, Linwood 16 miles 10, chains. In the Central Ward '4 miles 20 chains of wooden kerbs had been, replaced with concrete, at a total cost of £786. During the year 504 building permits had been issued, representing a value of £297,501, the fees collected being £613. \ It was quite possible, concluded the Mayor, that a similar policy to last yeaiv's might have to be pursued for another year, because the staff was not capable of doing more than it had been doing,' and it would also work out the loans already raised. The Council could not raise fresh loans without very great consideration, because the burden on the people of Ohristchnrch, including. the Drainage Board, was ' becoming heavy. Unless they took up works kite tramways or power works- which they were certain would be. remunerative when constructed, or even the much-talked-of canal, Scheme, which would be remunerative, it wan quite evident they would not be able to.go on spending money at the rate they had been spending it. Ha hoped to see the electrical power and canal question put into such a pom? tion during the next year as would give the .city the fullest information regarding them. Unfortunately, unless legislation could be'obtained during next session of Parliament altering the Act that controlled the .WaimakaTiri, the Cpancil could do 'nothing with respect to t&at river. It would; be useless to try to get power while the local authority In the neighbourhood of the gorge obstructed the Council as it had aone in the past. He would like to see steps taken to try other sources, and personally, without going deeply iflto the question, lie was inclined t« think that Lake Coleridge was as good a source as. any. Mr Allison referred gratefully to the courtesy he had al-

ways received from the councillors during his term of office, and expressed a hope that they and he would work in future with the good understanding .that had prevailed during the . greater part of the past year, and that in th> new year the worts he had referred to, among others, might receive fair consideration for the tjenefit of the ratir payers. (Applause). The Mayor then divested himself of his robes and insignia as the outgoing Mayor, and immediately assumed them again, when he made the usual declarations, and was formally installed by the Town Clerk (Mr H. R. Smith). Congratulatory speeches were made by Councillors and the ceremony ended, the visitors being subsequently entertained in the Council Chambers.