mainly to a decrease in activity on the City's docks.

A reduction in dock storage charges and the labour dispute were the main causes of a decrease in total revenue, said Corporation secretary Mr. Roger Sherratt.

"It's not an enormous deficit,'' he said. "The Corporation tries to balance its budget each year but obviously things can happen. The primary example is the downturn in the economy.'' In its 1991 financial statement, the Corporation listed a total revenue of $8,210,718 while expenditures totalled $8,558,547.

Mr. Sherratt blamed the deficit on a $160,000 decrease in total revenue and a similar increase in expenses.

"The Corporation revenue was down mainly because of a loss or reduction in goods wharfage which was very much due to the state of the economy,'' he said.

"People had goods on the docks and couldn't get them off and so storage charges had to be waived during the labour dispute.'' Mr. Sherratt said the Corporation knew at the beginning of the year that there would be a deficit as there was a $24,000 deficit carried over from the year before and there were some projects which needed completing. "Last year, because we had a surplus of funds the previous year, it was possible to use some of the funds to pay for special projects,'' he said. "(This year) the cost of street maintenance went up because of the number of ramps in the City on the sidewalks and the cost of collecting and disposing of garbage exceeded $1 million for the year for the first time ever. The cost of actually cleaning the streets went up also.'' He listed the installation of ramps within the City for wheelchair users, a new computer system, a new security fence on the docks and a pay raise for workers as such projects.

Mr. Sherratt said there are no plans to raise costs in areas such as parking or wharfage at the moment.

"The Corporation tries to raise taxes slightly each year to take account for inflation. Definitely last year's (deficit) was taken care of to a great degree by money from an excess of funds from previous years.'' He said the next concerns to be addressed by the Corporation are the improvements on the docks but that will wait until after a report on their condition submitted by American shipping expert Mr. Joseph Barbera.