135

D.—l

Declaration of New Government Roads. During the year a number of new Government roads, as under, were declared involving a length of 87 m. 39 eh., while sm. 20 eh. were revoked, making the total mileage of Government roads at 31st March, 1928, 1,637 m. 18 eh. No. 1 Highway District — M. eh. Whangaroa-Okaihaii .. .. .. .. ..40 Auckland-Wainui .. .. .. .. .. 13 0 No. 2 Highway District — Thames-Coromandel .. .. .. .. 12 66 No. 6 Highway District— Stratford-Taumarunui .. .. .. .. .. ] 8 70 Piopio-Tatu via Aria and Ohura. .. .. . . 11 40 No. 14 Highway District— Christchurch-Dunedin .. .. .. .. .. 20 0 No. 16 Highway District— Dunedin-Christehurch . . .. .. . . 6 40 No. 17 Highway District — Clarksville-Clyde .. .. .. .. .. .. 0 63 87 39 The declaration of the following section of Government road was revoked : No.. 12 Highway District—Westport-Nelson (Westport- Te Kuha), 5 m. 20 eh. The Board feels that it is desirable to point out that the declaration of these main highways as Government roads does not relieve local authorities of all responsibility in connection with their construction and maintenance. The act of declaring them. Government roads allows the Board to pay more than the statutory subsidy for the time being in force, the rate of subsidy being fixed by the Board in. accordance with the merits of each case. It is only in most exceptional cases that the Board provides the whole of the expenditure. Finance. The actual contributions to the Board's Revenue Fund from external sources for the year 1927-28 amounted to £688,980, including an amount of £130,461, representing the first proceeds from motorspirits taxation, which was imposed by Parliament after the presentation of last year's report. The excess of the actual income over the estimate given in the third annual report is almost wholly accounted for by a substantial increase in the Customs duties on tires and tubes. The following tabulation shows the details of the revenue of the Board from external sources for the past three years. Special attention is drawn to the extraordinary variations in the receipts from the Customs duties on tires and tubes : — 1927-28. 19213-27. 1925-26. £ £ £ Transfer from Consolidated Fund .. .. .. 35,000 35,000 35,000 Proceeds of ta,x on tires and tubes, collected through the Customs Department .. .. .. .. 219,658 188,450 223,699 Registration and license-fees of motor-vehicles .. .. 303,861 283,963 78,038 Motor-spirits tax .. .. .. .. ..130,461 £688,980 £507,413 £336,737 For the year ended 31st March, 1928, the appropriations and expenditure under the Revenue Fund were as follows :—

The most important feature in connection with expenditure from the Board's Revenue Fund is that the, cost of maintenance of the highway system has not continued to increase at the same extraordinary rate as it did during the first three years of the Board's activities. A graph shown later in this report

[ Percentage of Available for A . , , T , ,., Expenditure . ., . . Appropriated. Expenditure. , { Authorization. " ' t to Appropriations. £ £ £ North Island .. .. .. .. 448,552 421,370 346,962 82-34 South Maud .■. .. .. .. 237,065 222,437 176,619 79-40 Administration charges .. 28,000 28,000 22,583 80-65 Commission paid to Postal Department for collection 15,000 15,000 12,022 80-14 of motor registration and license fees Miscellaneous payments, including recoupment of 40,000 40,000 34,336 85-84 interest on loans to Consolidated Fund Totals .. .. .. .. 768,617 726,807 592,522 81-52