MAY BE AVOIDED

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20296, 4 May 1934, Page 8

MAY BE AVOIDED

SPECIAL TRAMWAY LEVY OF £8505. Search for Economies. PRICE OF WEEKLY PASSES LIKELY TO BE RAISED. Although the Christchurch Tramway Board has set in motion the machinery necessary for making a special levy of £8505 in addition to the imposition of the special rate which will return £29,067, there is a possibility of the necessity for collecting the sum of £8505 being avoided. Mr E. J. Howard, M.P., -deputychairman of the board, said this morning that before May 19, when the formal resolutions making the rates will be dealt with, the board intended to explore every possible avenue for making savings, and while he could not say that the whole of the sum of £8505 could be saved by means of economies, he thought that there was a good prospect of the special levy being reduced. One of the measures by which the board hopes to increase its revenue is a complete revision of the weekly pass system. It has been proposed that the charges for the passes be raised by sixpence a week, and that special conditions be imposed as to the number of rides allowed. In connection with this matter Mr Howard said that the board had to be careful that in its search for additional revenue it did not drive people away from the trams, and the whole question would have to be considered very carefully, He estimated that the addition of sixpence to the present price would bring in between £2OOO and £3OOO of additional revenue.

As to the effect on the board’s revenue of restrictions on the availability of the passes. Mr Howard said that it was very difficult to form an opinion. There was also the question of the day on which the passes were issued. One thing that was certain was that the whole position would be reviewed thoroughly. Reorganisation of Staff. It was made clear by Mr Howard that a complete reorganisation of the whole of the staff was under consideration with a view to effecting economies. The amount that can be saved in this direction cannot yet be determined. The petrol buses will also be the subject of close investigation and the board is determined to save money in this way as well as its other economies. Mr Howard said that he could see directions in which approximately £SOOO could be saved in the present year. “ On the other hand,” he remarked, when asked if that did not mean that the necessity for the special rate could be avoided, “ it has to be kept in mind that the Auditor-General has declared that if the board deliberately budgets for a deficit each individual member will be liable. We cannot take on that responsibility with a trading concern I might say that there is a possibility, though not a probability that the special rate will be avoided. In any case we are not committed definitely to the special rate, and will not impose it if we can see our way to do without it. But if we budget for a deficit we will be in the soup.” Mr Howard said that the limitations imposed on the board by the legislation under which it operated were more severe than those imposed by the general legislation dealing with tramways lie felt pretty sure, however, that if the board could get out of its present financial troubles there would be no necessity to strike a rate in 1935. The Renewals Fund. When asked whether it might not be possible to reduce the allocation of £15,167 to the renewals fund in view of the heavy calls that had to be made on the ratepayers, Mr Howard said at present it did not have the power to take that step. The board, however, was going to investigate the position with a view to seeing if something might be done in that direction". It had a number of schemes under way for improving its financial position, but it was faced with the fact that at present the trams 'were being run at a loss of about £6O a day. “ We are going to make every effort before we put anything on the rate demands.” he said. What the Rate Means. The general tramway rate of 3-16ths of a penny in the pound on the capital value of all property in the board’s district means that on a capital valuation of £IOOO, the sum of 15s Sd will have to be paid. .If the special levy’ of £8505 is also imposed the owner of a property of a valuation of £IOOO will have to pay a further 4s sd, making a total of £1 0s Id as his direct contribution to the finances of the tramway undertaking. As there does not appear to be any prospect of an appreciable reduction in the rates which he will have to pay to other local bodies this means that the amount levied on him will be increased on last year’s total by the new demands of the Tramway Board. In the new sewer area the burden of rates will be particularly heavy. In one case the rates on a property of a capita) value of £IOOO in S-t Albans amounted to £l2 4s 3d last year. This year the Drainage Board has increased its levy, and with the addition of the tramway rates the owner of that property will be called upon to pay about £l3 ss. The Mayor’s Comment. The Mayor, Mr D. G. Sullivan, M.P., said this morning that it was obvious I that the Tramway Board did a very wise thing in getting two outside accountants to report on the condition of the finances of the tramway undertaking. The accountants had sifted the wheat from the chaff and the truth from fiction, and had enabled the board and the public to see the realities of the situation. However regrettable the rate may be it was clear that there was no possible alternative to it for the time being. “ In view of the accountants’ report,” he added, “ the business section of the community who placed so much faith in the idea of business men guiding their community affairs must have received a rude shock when they learned of the obvious incapacity of some of the Citizens’ Association’s Tramway Boards in recent years.” (A report of the Tramway Board’s special meeting appears on Page 6.)