Wairarapa Daily Times Established Quarter of a Century. FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 1903. BOROUGH FINANCES.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 7403, 6 March 1903, Page 2

Wairarapa Daily Times Established Quarter of a Century. FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 1903. BOROUGH FINANCES.

Ouu local contemporary, in its issue of to-da,v, has tho following;—

The statement is made that " a bad corner has been turned " in Borough finances, and as the burgossus aro culled upon to be "thankful," it may bo infeircd tuat a good deal of honour and gloiy is being ascribed to the Borough Cjuncil. What are the facts? The Council miy have a better bahmce-shiut to put before tin; public than has been presented for some years past; but, if this is, so the reason of it IS INCUKAKIiI) TAXAHON. TllC I'atO Htl lick last year insured an increase in revenue of £,s()0; and for this the ratepayers are exhorted to be "thankful." It is possible tint we may bo wrong; but we certainly hold the opinion that a Mayor and Council, who are not fatuous in the hi-t degree, should bo capable of reducing liabilities by tho means of increased luxation. " A bud corner turned," forsooth ! The rat 'p.iyers arc still fixed tightly in tho "corner" of increased taxation, and it is the Mnyor and Council who have placed thorn tnere ! Has the ordinary oxp.-nditure during the past year been reduced ? Have the promises of the last municipal election been fulfilled; or has any honest attempt been mule to carry them out? Those are the questions that ratepayers want answered. They do not require to bs told that the taxation has been increased ; they aro well aware of that ! Moreover, it is highly reprehensible to endeavour to mislead the ratepayers—to attempt to get their votes by the absolutely inaccurate statement that " a bad corner has been turned."

This is a challenge to us, which we willingly tako up, for we believe that we have followed tho intricacies of the Borough finances moro closely than our contemporary. Last year, the Borough Council under-estimated tho receipts of its General Account by .C2>s:>, and overestimated its expenditure by JE7% --thus making a deficit of over one thousand pounds in tlje year, 'flu's was " a bad corner" to turn; and, writing twplvo months ago on the subject, we .said:—•

The Borough Council has promised to bo economical, und "go slow" next year, but it does not teem to really fane the dilliculty it has to contend against.—m., an overdraft of about iii-J.OOO at tho end of March next, /.'rudenee suggests that this overdraft should'be j-edu.c.'d by one-fourth during next year. On this Iritis th.t estimates for 1002-8 will probably bo pretty much on the following lines: — liXj'iiNbrri'HE. £ Overdraft 750 Salaries ">W Incidental .'. '.'. •• ,C0l) Park .. .". .. •■ iOO Rent .. .. :. ... 00 Fire Prevention . ■.. -30 Charitable Aid .. .. USO Licensing J -50 Interest 150 Streets and Iloads .. .. 1000 Total .. ... ;- ;iyl ° * Elites ]20 Bants.. , •• •• 100 Subsidy ~ „ ~- SJOO License Fees.. ~ •.- 700 Inpayments ~ .. .. 150 Miscellaneous .. ... JiO Hate roquired .. ~ 2510 Total 3810 Last year a rato to produce 4i1.!)71 was struck ; and next year it seems to us that a rato which will produce £2510 will require to be levied. Is the Council prepared next year to increase its rato by about twentyUvc per cent more than last year's amount V If it does this, it v/ifl fac; its dil'ticulty. Now, tho Council has faced ita difiiculty ; and wo aro bound to give it credit for so doing! Instead of being on the linan,cial down-grade, it is now otit! ,fi up-grade. At the entj. of this month, when tho balance ie struck, wo shall \/0 very much surprised to Inic! tbat the Council hns drifted to the bad by a thousand pounds, as it did last yeaj.% The end of the month will show whether we are right, p> , whether wo aro wrong. In tho meantime, wo bold to our opinion that tho Council has turned " a bad comor."