CITY VALUATIONS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXX, Issue 29, 4 February 1899, Page 3

CITY VALUATIONS.

COMPARED WITH GOVERNMENT

VALUATIONS

MR GULLIVER RESIGNS,

The Special Committee appointed by the City Council to consider the question of the valuations again met last evening, but an unexpected development resulted in little being done. There were present the Mayor (Mr David Goldie), also Councillors P. E. Baume, E. Farrell, T. T. Maselield, A. J. Eutrican and W. Courtney.

The Mayor said he understood, informally, that Mr Gulliver had severed his connection with the Council, and added that if such was the case the question arose whether the Committee could proceed with the business referred to it when the members would have to deal with a citizen and not a city official.

Mi* Gulliver, being in attendance, was asked to come into the Committee room and, upon his doing no the Mayor asked if it was a fact he had that day verbally severed his connection with the Council.

Mr Gulliver replied: 'That is so; I am here to-night as a citizen and a ratepayer. At the same time, Ido not want that fact to interfere with any enquiry, and 1 shall be happy to furnish any information.'

It was then resolved, on the motion of Cr. Farrell, seconded by Cr. Entrican: 'That the Committee go back to the Council for further instructions.'

The Mayor said: 'As Mr Gulliver is here I should like to say with regard to a statement that has appeared in the Press that his valuations last year were about £ 12,000 more than those of the Government, that I enquired about it, and have received the following letter in reply from the Government Valuation Department,' The Mayor then read the documents prepared by the Government Valuer, Mr Duncan, as follows:

In reply to your inquiry, I have to inform you that the valuations of the company's gas mains are not included in the information supplied to the City Council. The Government Valuation Act, 189U, prescribes that the capital value shall be the unimproved value and the value oi improvements, such as dwellings, fencing, clearing-, draining, laying down in grass, etc. The figures submitted to me as the rateable value of the company's I properties, viz., £12,150, is represented in my return by the sum of £923, so that in comparing the valuations of the Government and the city valuers the difference, £11,222, should be added to the former, making the Rateable value £309,501 Plus 11,222 £320,720 I think it my duty to point out that the information as published In the public press is misleading. The Council's resolution asked for the rateable capital and annual value, according to the rolls of this department, and these particulars are summarised, after all deductions and exemptions have been allowed, thus showing at a glance the actual values the Council can rate on. The letting value has also been supplied, as 1 considered the information might be of service to you. At your request I also subjoin the comparison between the rateable annual values, the Council's figures having been supplied me for the purpose. Government rateable value £309,501 City Council rateable value 292,9315 £16,5GS Add amount included in City Council's valuation for gas mains.. 11,222 Total difference £27,790 —I am, etc., WM. DUNCAN, Supervising Valuer for the ValuerGeneral. ANALYSIS OF FIGURES RE CITY VALUATIONS AS SUBMITTED BY GOVERNMENT. GOVERNMENT VALUATIONS. Rateable per cent, on Ward Cap'l. Lett'g. Rat'ble. Cap. North £1,290,183 87,441 70,405 5J East 1,861,051 122,701 99.1GG 5 5-16 South 807,045 C5,80S 52,840 61 Ponsonby C 53.413 56,888 45.95S 615-16 Karangah'e 335.G2G 31,134 24,900 7J Graf toll .... 254,240 20,126 16,175 CJ £5.211,558. £384,15G £309,504 * * Average rateable percentage on capital, nearly 6. The Government have not assessed any letting or rateable value on exempt properties, such as Crown, Church, and other properties, so that the above represents the actual capital and rateable value on which the Council can base its estimate. The exemptions also Include £21,747, City Council property, which is not rateable until leased; all'the other exemptions are in accordance with the Rating Act, 1894. The comparison between the Government and city values is as follows:— Ward Government. City. Increa. North £70,405 £66,404 £4,001 E ast 99.1G6 • 93.559 5,577 South ".'. 52,840 50,373 2,467 Ponsonby 45,958 43,210 2,742 Karangahape.. 24 9GO 24.052 878 Grafton IG.ITo 15,272 flOo '£309,504 £292,930 £IG,SGS Add to this amount assessed by Council to Gas Company, not included in Government return, as per their letter £11,222 £27,790 Making Government valuation in excess of city, which, at 2/05 in the £, is equal to £2,836. Rating Act, 1594, Section 2: Annual value means the rent at which such property would let from year to year, deducting therefrom 20 per cent, in case of houses, buildings, and other perishable property, and 10 per cent, in case of land and other hereditaments, but shall n no case be less than 5 per cent of the lee simple thereof. Mr Gulliver: All I can say,- Mr Mayor, is that I am sorry lor Mr Duncan, because that letter is not worth the paper it is written upon. I. may point out that yours is not the annual value but the annual rateable value, therefore yours is 20 per cent, less. You have to add that 20 per cent, to bring it up to the Government values.

The Chairman: But they have taken off that twenty per cent, total. Then comes the question of how far you comply with the Act in putting- in the values of church properties and the Supreme Court. Mr Gulliver: Pardon me, there are no churches, only Government properties. The Chairman: If you knew these properties could not be rated why burden the rolls with them?

Mr Gulliver: Simply because the Government law says all property that is rateable must be so dealt with.

The Chairman: But you have simply to deal with the Rating Act of 1894.

Mr Gulliver: And other Acts bearing upon the matter have to be taken in conjunction therewith. The Chairman: Oh, no; the Eating Act states you shall not take anything but what is rateable. By doing otherwise this is what has happened. You have put down without exemptions, and in some years when you have increased the total valuations from £300,000 to £305,000, and made it appear in the Press as an increase in values of £5,000, it appears that in some cases the increases were upon properties that could not be rated. Mr Gulliver: I shall be able to show that I have not increased any Government valuations for the last three years.

Cr. Baume: I understood we had

passed a resolution to refer back to the Council for further instructions'?

The Chairman: Yes, we are only talking now. It is only fair to the Government Valuers that this document should go forth to the public as the statement of Mr Gulliver has al--1 ready clone. L ma3 r say that upon enquiring in the office I find they cannot give me any information as to what the year's rates will be. They give as a reason that so many properties are put on the valuation list that are not rateable that they cannot tell what the income will be until the auditor comes along and strikes off those upon which rates cannot be levied. Now, with these Government valuations, we are told plainly that £309,000 is the amount upon which rates can be levied, and we know precisely what will be our income. The contention is that we have no right to have our rolls burdened with valuations of properties upon which no rates can be levied. Of course, the difficulty about taking the Government valuations is that ratepayers understanding they were not to be rated upon those did not appeal.

Mr Gulliver: 1 happen to know personally that, in one case the valuation is £700 for a property which the owner would sell for £420 to-day.

Cr. Farrell: I know allotments in Ponsonby are valued 200 per cent, too much in the Government valuations.

Mr Gulliver: I may tell you, gentlemen, that the Governrfient Yalxiers had to come to me for plans and had to pay me for assistance.

The Chairman: There were six Government Valuers, and they seem well qualified men. Mr Wade at one time, 1 believe, was valuer for the city. Under Mr Gulliver's system of putting in properties that were not rateable I find that in 1890-91 the total vahiations were £292,380, from which we deduct exemptions £ 13.440, which leaves £278,140 actually rateable. Next year the valuation showed an increase of £2,300, lnit the exemptions were £1(5,051, so that the rates actually collectable were upon a total of £1,000 less than the former one, although there was an increase shown of £2,300 in the total valuations. Again, in 1894-95 Mr Gulliver's valuations, as they appeared in the Press, showed a total of £290,514, from which £19,051 had to be deducted, which left £280,463. Next year Mr Gulliver-add-ed £:!,000 to the total valuation, but owing- to it being on unrateable properties we could only levy rates on £278,150, or about £2,ooo'less than 1894-95. Mr Gulliver: I challenge that statement. ■ The Chairman: These are the figures furnished to me. Mr Gulliver: Well, I claim to have the right to the items and not deal only with totals. The Chairman: You are entitled to that. All I wish to do now is to show the mistake of having the valuations of unrateable properties on the roll. Mr Gulliver: Unless these properties are valued, and supposing they are Jet during the year, how is the Council to rate them? It is not for me to see whether any ratepayer pays rates on Council's allotments or not, but I contend 1 must value them so that if they are let rates can be levied. The Chairman: The point I wish to bring out is that when we have, as in the case of the Government valuations, the sum stated upon which rates can actually be charged, we can'go to work and know what our income will be.

Mr Gulliver: Even then I can compare favourably with them, and I think I can show that such is the case; but I prefer to keep my hand to myself until it is a propter enquiry.

The Chairman: The Government valuations for last year give the Council an extra £2,8*36.

Mr Gulliver: All I can say is that if you adopt those valuations you will have a fine crop of objections.

Cr. Farrell: Yes; there will be a pretty lot of objections.

Mr Gulliver: 1 can assure you there will, and I may say that I have already been retained by a good many of the objectors.

This concluded the business, Mr Gulliver good-humouredly shaking hands all round before retiring, and also being thanked by the Mayor for his courtesy in attending, as he had ceased to be an official of the Council.