BOROUGH FINANCES.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXXII, Issue 12438, 10 April 1908, Page 4

BOROUGH FINANCES.

The borough balance-sheet for the year ending 31st March last, a copy of which we have to acknowledge from the Town Clerk, discloses a fairly satisfactory condition of affairs so far as the financial state of the borough is concerned. The total general receipts for the year show an increase of .£2206, the figures for 1906-7 and 1907-8 being respectively .£14,587 and .£16,793. The addition of 3d to the rates, together with increased and new valuations accounted for .£1474 of the increase, .£7193 being collected last year as against .£5719 the previous year. The splendid asset the borough possesses in its many reserves is. shown by the annually increasing revenue "derivable therefrom. Last year rents from reserves totalled .£1969, and in 1906-7 .£1638. This is not all profit, for on the expenditure .side of the balancesheet appears the item last year of ,£732, as against ,£895 for the previous year, for labour and material utilised on the reserves. Each year, however, should show an improvement in the reserves account. Nearly all the heavy work which has been entailed in putting in order Queen's Park, Cook's Gardens, Moutoa Gardens, v Laird Park, etc., has been completed, and maintenance will now be the principal item, while a large additional revenue will be secured when the balance of the reserves — 60 acres or more — on the Gonville side of the borough boundary is placed on. the market. License fees show an increase from .£IO9B to .£1197, hotels providing ,£4BB and auctioneers .£353 of that amount. The receipts from the Opera House and billboards also show a substantial improvement — from .£725 to ,£B6O, and the balance over and above expenditure for the year just ended is ,£299, after allowing «£56 for insurance and <£160 transfer to interest account. The bath receipts fall a little short of last year, totalling .£lll, as against .£132, as do also the dog tax fees — ,£B3 and .£9B respectively. On the expenditure side of the balance-sheet we note that salaries and office charges have increased from .£1478 to J1587, and day labour from .£596 to .£760, though the total expenditure under the general head of works and services has been reduced from ,£4845 to JJ3719. With respect to the increase in the day labour account, that is'an-item we would prefer to see reduced rather than increased, for we are confident that a considerable saving would be effected if more of the borough work were let by tender, and in this connection Wanganui might well copy the example of Palmerston in regard to particular classes of work. The payments to local bodies continue to be fairly heavy, last year totalling ,£961, included in the total being: Fire Brigade d£3oo, Hospital and Charitable Aid levy .£523, Library .£75, Museum JSO (.£IOO last year), Technical School .£SO, Garrison Band .£SO (.£BO last year), and City Band .£2O. Included in what might be termed extraordinary expenditure are the following items: — Purchase grandstand from Caledonian Society and painting stand £61, erection of convenience for natives £25, material for public urinals .£35, motor waggon .£785, and rent of gravel site £25. In the water supply account the reecipts show a substantial increase — from ,£.1435 to .£1856, water supplied by meter accounting for ,£1252, and water supplied to shipping =6232. There is likewise a gratifying decrease in the cost of maintenance of the town water supply and the Okehu track, the figures respectively being .£625 and .£277, as against J1330 and .£547 the previous year. Last',' but not least, is the gas account, which, as our readers have already been informed, shows a profit of no less than .£3006 10s 4d, a result which speaks volumes ; for the efficient management of Mr G. D. Stone. As evidence of the great development which is taking place in this important branch of the borough's undertakings, it may be mentioned that the sales of " gas by meter last year Stalled ,£12,116, an in-

crease of ,£2323 over the previous year. Sales and reuts of cookers added i' 573, as again=£ £320 in 1906-7, though the sales ot tar and coke were less by a few younds last year than for the previous year. Wages are a big item at the Gasworks, last year totalling £1728 to firemen and ±'1525 to others on manufacture, the respective figures for the previous year being £1215 and £1206. In addition there is a sum of £718 for salaries, while a proportion of another sum of ,£2028 .on the expenditure side is for fitters' wages. Summarising the different borough accounts, we find there is a debit balance of .£6158 on the general account, which last jcar Btood at &7ZOB. Xbs would Have been still further reduced but for the expenditure of £785 on the motor waggon, which should materially lessen the .cost of street metalling. It is estimated that a motor waggon can do the work of six men, 6ix carts, and 12 horses, at a cost of about £7 or £8 per 'week (after making due allowance for interest and depreciation), and if anything like such results can be obtained in .Wanganui, then the waggon should mor/than, save its cost in 12 months. Thie labour-saving machine, together with the profits from the gasworks and reserves, should materially assist in keeping the rates at the low figure they are at present, and we hope in the near future the overdraft will be wiped out and , the rates will be reduced. The district fund account (which includes the deficency of £6158 on general account as well as the gasworks profit of J3006 and contractors' deposits in hand i>1200) has a debit of .£2142, from which ia to be deducted ,£lB9 cash in hand, consequently the actual overdraft at the bank is ,£1953.^ The total indebtedness of the borough is .£212,500, made up of the following loans : —£55,000 old loans consolidated (1886), .£16,000 street improvements (1886), .£4OOO Opera House (1896), ,£30,000 gasworks (1900), .£70,000 water (1900), .£13,000 gas extension, ,£11,500 street improvements, JJBOOO gas .extension, and ,£SOOO of the tram loan. iFrom these loans must be deducted £11.510 accrued Sinking funds. The assets of the borough are valued at ,£103,156. On the whole, therefore, the financial position of the borough is satisfactory. The establishment of an electric .tram service will be the feature of the present year, and already extension to Castlecliff is spoken of. These undertakings, to^ gethcrwith other large improvement works „ in the town and suburbs and the opening up of the harbour and the settlement of the interior lands, which up to the present have lain idle and unproductive, will aid materially in the development of Wanganui, which we have every reason to believe will progress at a much more .rapid rate in the future than has been the case in the past. The prospects are certainly cheery.