UNPAID RATES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 170, 20 July 1934, Page 5

UNPAID RATES.

A HUGE TOTAL. SHOULD PROPERTIES BE SOLD? A PROBLEM OF THE SLUMP. (From Our Own Correspondent.) SYDNEY, July 13. Bankstown is a suburban centre about 11 miles from Sydney, and during the past 12 months or so it has been frequently the focus of public interest by virtue of its municipal troubles. Some time ago Mr. Spooner, as Minister for Local Government, thought it necessary or desirable tr> supersede the local council by an administrator. This official Mr. Wylie, has had charge of local affairs, ever since; and he conducts the periodic council meetings with the assistance of the town clerk, voting moneys and finishing off in the space of 10 or 12 mintes business which used to take the council three or four hours.

One of Mr. Wylie's many difficulties is'financial. When he took office about six months ago he found that there were arrears on more than 15,000 assessments, amounting in all to at least £114,000. Naturally enough he decided that such a state of things "cannot be tolerated," and in cases where no satisfactory answer is returned to his request for some sort of payment, legal steps will be taken. "I want the rates." he told an interviewer the other day, "and I mean to get them." Among other things, he has mentioned that he intends to avail himself of the power which he undoubtedly possesses, to dispose of properties on which rates have not been paid for more than seven years. As a matter of strict legality, all this is correct enough, but it is possible to put forward arguments on the other side, at least to the extent of deprecating any sudden and decisive action.

Inflated Values. One of Sydney's best-known lawyers, Mr. W. A. Windeyer, the other day suggested that, while Mr. Wylie is no doubt trying to carry out his duties in ' strict accordance with the letter of the ' 1 statute, there are certain phases of the question which he seems inclined to ignore. The failure to pay rates is largely a result of the depression; and to meet the depression, a moratorium was decreed on many charges and payments. Why should there not be a moratorium for rates as well? Moreover, rates are required generally for the upkeep of roads and other public works. The depression meant for a long time an almost complete cessation of public works; and therefore the default of the ratepayers* now in arrears has not been a serious matter for the municipality. Again, the rates are charged on values that were deliberately inflated by "go-getters" and have proved to be largely fictitious; and the effect of the Administrator's action would be to deprive many workers of any chance of ever getting back, through a subsequent rise in values, any part of the money that they have already put into their houses and land. Further, the amount of the rates now due will be raised enormously by the legal costs of these projected prosecutions. For all these reasons Mr. Windeyer thinks that, as a matter of abstract justice, as well as practical politics, the Administrator would.do well to hold his hand.

Burden On Those Who Pay. On the other hand, Mr. Wyiie contends that every one o£ the 15,000 defaulters has received four or Jive written warnings; that many hundreds of them have been interviewed personally; and that he does not see why the "honest and deserving" ratepayers should carry the rest of the community on their shoulders. This may be all quite true, but Mr. Windeyer's arguments carry a great deal of force, not only in the case of Bankstown, but in all parallel instances of unpaid rates, and his views are well worthy of serious j consideration.