THE BOROUGH'S FINANCIAL POSITION.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXX, Issue 11867, 16 May 1906, Page 6

THE BOROUGH'S FINANCIAL POSITION.

Considered Unsatisfactory by

the Mayor.

Who Fears Increased Rates or

Further Borrowing.

At last nights meeting of the Borough Council, the Finance Committee recommended as follows:— That the applicationof the .City Hand lor a subsidy lie held over ior consideration when framing the c^ti;iiiit<v. Town Clerk and Salaries. — That Mr George Murch be appointed Town Clerk and Treasurer, Such appointment to be delermmable by three calendar months notice on either side, and subject to conditions to *.c emlxiiliod in an a-.»r fintiit. That Mr Tuurch's .salary be ij.i.j') per annum, as from Ist April lust. — That the rate clerk, Mr W. 11. McCaul, tcc-'ive an increai-je ot £15 annum; the gas clerk, Mr Chamberlain, an increase of £2~> per annum, and the borough valuer, Mr J. V. Watt, an increase of £25, all as from the Ist April hist.—Balanceshoot: Tho committe directed that the debit balance in tho waterworks eepar-itc account of the district 1 und l>e transferred to the general account district fund, and recommended that further consideration of the balauce-eheet be given with the estimate*. The committee recommended the parsing lor payment of various accounts, amounting to £9do <)s Kid.

In moving the adoption of the report the M.iyor nuule tho following statement : — Since coming into office I have been busy lrannng the estimates for the coming you", .mil hope soon to ht» able to submit tin i.i t-> the Finance Committee for their i onsidoration. It has. of course, boon nec'.'uj.try lor me to take into account the fin. ,".(..i! position ot tiie Borough. I regie. 1.) i'.ivo to state that it is not very .'..itusfuttoiy. On March 31->t, 1906, the debit bilanco of the general district fund account was .£'so2 4s ]d, while the debit !iiiincv» ot the water supply account w:is no ies.i th.m i' 3058 lGs Bd. The effect of Lliorio delicitri is that, in spite oT the large profits made by our gas department, our overdraft at the Bank on that date was £1848 lla Id, which -amount should really 1)0 increased by .£ll3, money held on contractors deposit account. Returning to the water supply account, I lind that ,£2597 7s (id was expended' on the maintenance of tho pipe' track ana tile purchase of water liilLirs and cast iron mains. These are items great part of which would much more appropriately Have come out ot tho water supply loan money 9. Not merely, however, are the latter exhausted, but wo have had to supplement them by paying 4!U)i B.s lOd out of revenue. In view ot tlu-a," facts — I say nothing of the expenditure which we must in all probability lace for settling tanks or their equivalent — it appears to me more than ever a matter ior 2-cgrot that auy portion of the water supply loan moneys should ever have been diverted tor other purposes. In this connection I must point out that last year £1143 Gs 3d was paid out of theso loan moneys for interest. This year, of course, that extra amount must be made good out of revenue. Again, of the ,£ISOO loan moneys raised for footpaths and kerbing, all but .£6O ->14s 7d has been expended, principally in keroing, leaving Several hundred chains of footpathing yet to bo done. Other items have during last year ocon charged to loan account which must tlui. year lie paid out of rates. Our greatest stand-by has, of course, been the profits made out of gas. Mr Stone, however, iniorms me that within two. years at the outside wo must face heavy expenditure iv bis department. We cannot, therefore, rely on beinffi.able to appropriate much of our gas pwtfits in relief of rate 3. Under these circumstances it will bo necessary to make provision^ for maintenance and necessary now -wort and to recover our leeway at the Bank. . I confers I see little prospect of any .other course than further borrowing or an increase in the rates. That; however, will be a mattpr for our joiuf consideration.

Cr COHEN fieconded, the motion pro forma. lie said they did not discusa in committee the matter of the transfer of the debtor balance, and the balunee-ehevt ''a<l not yet bpen examined by the Finance C.)iiimiitpe. .He had, therefore, pricked up his ears at the Mayor'snote of alarm re prospective increase in rates or further borrowing, and he was sorry to hear It. as he had ljeon told the balance-sheet was a very good one. Increased rates ofion indicated municipal enterprise, but they had boon lh/» magicians who had show a enterprise without increasing the rates, and he bored they would do so still.

Cr LIFFITON flaid it was a fallacy to say that the rates had not been increased, but was ruled out oi ortler "by the Mayor, and tho motion for adoption of the report was then put and carried.