REVALUATION of grey County

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 26986, 11 March 1953, Page 8

REVALUATION of grey County

One Property Increased By 3500 Per Gent. OVER-ALL RISE OF ABOUT 120 PER CENT. (From Our Own Reporter) GREYMOUTH, March 10. Though the final total for the area has not yet been announced, it is expected that the valuation of the Grey County will be increased by about 120 per cent. The new valuation of one of the three ridings already exceeds the old valuation for the whole of the county. This is the south riding, where the valuation has increased from £382,548 to £933,705, compared with the previous county total of £871,284. The increase in the north riding is from £208,791 to £487,335, but the final figure for the east riding has not yet been announced. The valuation for half Cf this riding, however, £290,675, exceeds the previous full valuation of £279,945. To obtain the same sum as in the present financial year, the council will have to halve its rate, and it is expected this will be done. Ratepayers, however, will pay more on the unreduced Catchment Board and Hospital Board rates. Where properties have not had their values doubled, the owners will be required to pay less in the new year. Big farms and sawmills particularly, however, have had their valuations substantially increased. One mi’ l with a tramway was formerly valued at £lOOO and is valued now at £36,000 and this increase of 3500 per cent, will mean an annual payment, even at the halved rate, of £225 against the £l3 10s formerly paid. Some 79 objections, mainly from millers and big farmers, have been against the valuations, and a sitting of the Land Valuation Court ii expected to be held at Greymouth to hear the appeals.