RATING OF FARMS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 252, 25 October 1933, Page 8

RATING OF FARMS.

ASSESSMENT COURT. MOUNT ROSKILL CASES. IMPORTANT LEGAL POINTS. Applications of persons in the Mount Roskill Road district who wished to be placed on the farm lands list, and who wished the valuation of their land to be reduced, were heard at a sitting opened this morning of the Assessment Court, set up under the Urban Farm Lands Rating Act, 1932. Mr. Wyvern Wilson, S.M., presided, and with him as assessors were Messrs. T. Mclndoe for the road district, and A. J. Barclay for the Government. A total of 89 cases was set down for hearing. Points made by the magistrate were that the land had to be used principally for agricultural purposes, and the Court had to be satis fifed that a substantia] part of the income was derived from the land. In many cases that was the crux of the argument. He also said that the Court had to consider the position of a piece of land as it was at the time of application, not as it was over a period of time. The clerk of the district, Mr. J. 11. Reich, handed a statement to the Court. "The board has recognised the inequalities and anomalies in valuations which exist in the district," said Mr. Reich, "and has urged the ValuerGeneral to undertake a general revaluation. It is understood that this has been agreed to, but it is a questionable whether it will become effective for the next rating year." The board, in compliance with the Act, had advertised its intention to prepare a farmlands list. There had been 89 objections to the list, which number were before the Court. Of the number, 54 were in respect of the special valuations fixed on properties by the board, and 35 on account of non-inclusion of properties on the list. The unimproved valuation of the 89 properties was £136,738, or 15.5 per cent of the total unimproved valuation of the district, which was £884,370. The last revaluation of the district took place in 1924. Since that time a large number of ratepayers had had their properties revalued, and had also ■applied certain eections of the Valuation of Land Act, 1925. There were a few cases where valuations had been reduced by the 1933 Assessment Court, and where the owners were applying to the Court for rating relief. The effect on the board's revenue was pointed out by the clerk. As the first of the applications for the farm list had been made prior to April 1, 1933, the roll now being made by the Court would have to form the basis of the rating for 1933-34, and the receipt of the board's current revenues had accordingly been adversely affected. POSITION AT BIRKENHEAD. . Referring to urban farm land rating this morning the Mayor of Birkenhead, Mr. G. Mills, stated that his council had received 58 objections to the farm land list which had been prepared in pursuance of the Urban Farm Land Rating Act, 1932. Of that number 51 of the objections concerned' properties situated in the Birkdale portion of the borough. Word had not yet been received from Wellington as to when the Assessment Court would sit to consider the objections, but it was expected that the information would be available at an early date. Birkenhead was recognised as one of the lowest-rated boroughs in the vicinity of Auckland. During recent months, road improvements to the value of several hundred pounds had been undertaken by the council in the Birkdale district. In the event of the Court making any reductions in the ratable values of farm lands in the borough, a decrease in revenue from Birkdale would result, and the council would not then be in a position to undertake further improvement work at Birkdale. Any deficiency in the council's revenue resulting from the operation of the Act would necessitate increased demands upon the ratepayers who did not obtain reductions.