TRAMWAY BOARD . FINANCES SHOW LOSS OF £7193

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18452, 1 May 1928, Page 12

TRAMWAY BOARD . FINANCES SHOW LOSS OF £7193

BUSES RESPONSIBLE FOR OVER £2OOO.

A deficiency of £7193 in the general revenue account of the Christchurch Tramwav Board was revealed when the annual statement of accounts to March 31 was presented to the meeting of the board yesterday afternoon. It was stated that of this deficiency buses were responsible for £2501. As Christchurch had a lower operating cost than any of the other five publiclyowned bus concerns in New Zealand, the deficiency must be attributed to low revenue. The previous year’s credits were stated to have been £2581. The Works and Traffic Committee, the recommendation of which was adopted by the board, proposed to use this credit balance for writing off alterations to the Harbour Board and Tramway offices £728, North Beach poll expenses £1229, and to transfer the balance of £624 towards this year's deficiency. The shingle pit and quarry profits for the year, £1666. would be used for the same purpose, thus reducing the deficiency to £4903, which the committee proposed should be carried forward. The earnings for the year were stated to be £283.450, and the items of expenditure as follow: Operating expenses £205,102, interest £56,240, sinking fund £3873. depreciation reserve account £25,428. This left a deficiency of £7193. Regarding the quarry accounts, it was stated that the board commenced operations at M’Cormack’s Bay in 1918, the capital expenditure then being £7712. Reserves set aside annually had accumulated to £7004. The committee proposed to write this sum off the first cost by transferring the amount from depreciation fund to sinking fund. In addition to those reserves, £2629 of surpluses had been credited to the revenue account of the general tramway undertaking, or transferred to the track ballast reserve fund. £1538 of this had been contributed to the development of the new part of the quarry, the balance (£7500) having been raised by way of loan. The shingle pit was opened in 1921 at a capital cost of £1443. Depreciation reserves had accumulated to £1062. and in addition £827 surpluses were in the track ballast reserve fund. The old pit was nearly exhausted. The committee had decided to write off the original cost by a transfer of £1062 from the depreciation fund to the sinking fund, and to use also £3Bl from the track ballast reserve fund. The board owned another lli acres of good shingle land in the same locality. The committee’s recommendations were approved.