Collection of Rates

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22594, 27 December 1938, Page 8

Collection of Rates

The backwardness of , the Christchurch City Council’s rate receipts this year directs attention to the question of rate collection, which was reviewed in a news article in “ The Press towards the end of the week. Since the rates are not finally due for some time yet, it will not at once occur to every ratepayer why an unusually sluggish flow of revenue causes the council any anxiety; but the reasons are strong enough. In the first place, if collection proceeds more slowly than usual, the proportion of rates unpaid when the time expires may be expected to be higher than usual. Second, if rate payments are backward, interest charges on ■ overdraft will be correspondingly higher. The system of finance by overdraft, reduced as the annual rating revenue flows in, is of course in general use ” and cannot conveniently be avoided; but some saving might be effected and some other advantages follow, if the system of collection were altered. One suggestion is that provision might be made for the “ quarterly “ payment ” of rates. Presumably what is meant is provision for quarterly demand and collection. Ratepayers who wish to pay quarterly, or half-yearly, or at any stage in advance, seem not to be debarred in any way from doing so. Whether ratepayers as a whole would willingly comply, if called upon to pay quarterly, is not certain; but figures showing them what the interest saving to the municipality would be might be persuasive. If the City Council and other bodies desire to introduce a change of this sort, it would be well to prepare such figures. There is, also, the possibility of readjusting the date of final payment. Although the ratepayer may adjust this to suit himself, the tendency to delay payment to the last week and even the last day is marked, and it is not overcome by the fact that delay crowds rates, taxes, and other liabilities together. Local bodies might very well consider whether it would not better accommodate financial necessities and human nature, if they were to make an earlier demand. One solution, or a combination of solutions, to a problem of economy and convenience should be sought and should not be impossible to find.