LYTTELTON RATES

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21533, 24 July 1935, Page 18

LYTTELTON RATES

TO THE XDITOB OF THE PSE3S. Sir,— During the recent meetings held by the Lytlelton Council, the chairman of the finance committee, Cr. Collett, for the second year in succession, has asked to have rates raised Cd in the pound, and that some of the ratepayers should have their rates remitted, owing to hardship, and has said that he paid £l4 for rates. Cr. Colleft's rates are not high on a property with land and buildings worth from £2OOO to £3OOO. I consider it is wrong for the council to remit rates for more than a term of three years, interest being charged up to that time. If a business man finds that his returns are not good enough at the end of his financial year, he looks round him and he may have to dismiss an assistant, say at £6 a week. He has to do the work himself, or get a youth, or go out of business. It would seem that the business of the Borough Council has been sleeping for the last few years. Many ratepayers to-day are asking why the Diamond Harbour farm lease was transferred, and why such small rents are being received for some of the properties. Cr. Toy gave us the benefit of his investigations about wages, but his opinions appear to change with successive meetings. Crs. W. T. Foster, A. G. Sinclair, and J. Sargentina are to be congratulated for standing their ground in the debate.

If salaries and wages are costing £IO,OOO of an income of a little more than £20,000, it needs no wizard of finance to put this right.—Yours, etc., SPARTAN. Lyttelton, July 18, 1935.