WORKS AND SERVICES

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 106, 6 May 1936, Page 8

WORKS AND SERVICES

CONTINGENCIES MET WITH WORK DONE OUT OF REVENUE EXPENDITURE ANALYSED A voluminous report, setting forth in detail the operations of the city’s works and services department during the year under review was tabled by the city engineer (Mr. L. F. Row). This showed that, owing to several major contingencies arising during the year which involved an excess of expenditure on that estimated, it was j necessary to economise in other directions to keep the department within I the limits budgeted for. It was also I disclosed that a non-borrowing policy adopted bv the council, which forced the department to look entirely to revenue for expenditure on capital works, has had a tendency to rob maintenance expenditure. Mr. Row devoted a passage of his report in explanatory vein to Those items on which expenditure exceeded the estimates by more than £59. “Expenditure on streets was over expended by £109,” he reported, “but a large additional amount could have been spent to advantage in additional maintenance and in clearing the excessive growth of weeds and grass brought about by the exceptionally wet season. “Traffic expenses were kept £67 below the estimate by postponing the purchase of a number of road studs and signs which it was originally intended to install. “Surveys.—A balance of £146 was unexpended on this item as pressure of other work made it impossible for the existing staff ro make progress with j this work. | “Plant.—This item was under expended by £6B, due io the purchase price of vehicles being below the estimated figures. “Dublin St. Bridge.—The chipping of the steelwork on the underside of this bridge presented greater difficulties than at first anticipated and the estimate was exceeded by £196. Portions of two spans are still uncompleted. “Town Bridge.—Repair work was completed early in the year but in December it was found necessary to repaint in several places and this caused an. over expenditure of £l2O. i “Relief Works.—ln July of last year, rhe Unemployment Board altered its policy with regard to the use of relief labour on ordinary maintenance work, and, from that date onwards, ihe council's share of the wages paid to subsidised workers, amounting to £963. was charged directly to streets, water supply, or other works on which they were employed. This resulted in the expenditure shown for- ihis item being £544 less than originally estimated. Had these wages been charged against relief works the item .would have been over expended by £419. “Water Supply.— As a result of Ihe flood damage in February, the maintenance of water supply was over expended by £lO6l. The estimated cost •of £3177 for the completion of the new water main from Westmere reservoir to London Street was exceeded by £63. 'l’he new pump was some months late io arriving and final payments have not yet been made, resulting in an under expenditure of £226.” A graph was submitted which showed that the annual expenditure on works and services, although it has risen since 1932-33, is still -well below predepression figures. In 1.926-27, 10 years ago, works and services demanded from the city exchequer over £60,000. A sharp fail was brought about in the following year and at March 31, 1928, the total was just below the £50.000 line. It rose again to just over that figure the following year (1928-29), but since then has shown a steep decline, year by year, until 1932-33, when it reached its lowest level in the 10 years mentioned. The fall was at the rate of about £7OOO a year for three years between March 31, 1929, and April 1, 1932, the total of £59.000 in 1929 becoming £30,000 in 1932, A fail of £5OOO was brought about between March, 1932, and March, .1933, the total in the latter | year being £25,000. From then until i March 31 last the figure has risen to just under £35,000. I “The increase for rhe past year was i barely sufficient io balance the partial I restoration of wages cuts, and did not I represent any increase in the activities of the department,'” Mr. Row reports. “In the past two years £8934 has been spent out of revenue on extensions to the water supply system. (Pumping plant and pipe line duplication.) Further analysis of the work and •services expenditure in ihe city was j made by Mr. Row by means of a circular diagram, covering the total j amount handled last year—£34.733. The I greatest portion of that amount, 29.4 per cent., was spent on streets, and the next largest was on water supply, 23.5 per cent. Included in the water J supply expenditure, however, was a i fair proportion which went on capital works—renewal of the pipe line in' ihe , I Okehu system and erection of a new | pumping plant at Kai Iwi. The following table shows ihe percentage of • expenditure made under other heads: Per rent. 1 Reserves 1 10.7 Unemployment relief . . 8.8 ' Rubbish collection . . . . 5.9 Sewers and drains .. .. 4.8 ; Plant and tools .. .... 2.8 Bridges .. 2.3 j Cemeteries 2.3 I Sanitation 2.2 Buildings and fences .. 2.1 : Traffic 1.7 : l Scavenging 1.6 j Miscellaneous 1.9 sufficient Io meet operating expenses,” Mr. Row stated, and tabled supporting figures. In the year 1932-34 the council collected £1421 in fares from buses and spent £1785 in operating costs, incurring a loss of £364. Since then the undertaking has shown a slight excess , of revenue fares over operating costs as follows: Fares. Costa. Profit. 1 1933-34 1.492 1,470 22 1934- 1.564 .1,538 26 1935- .. 1,550 1,529 21