FARM LANDS IN BOROUGHS

Dominion, Volume 21, Issue 290, 7 September 1928, Page 13

FARM LANDS IN BOROUGHS

PROBLEMS OF RATING UNIVERSAL PRINCIPLE OF CLASSIFICATION ' LEGISLATION THIS SESSION The adoption of the principle of classification for rating purposes in all New Zealand boroughs which have farm lands in them is broadly recommended by the Commission of Inquiry which recently investigated the problem of the heavy rating liabilities of farmers in small boroughs, and of those who, although their properties are now excluded, are still having to pay a big annual special rate bill. The reports of the Commission, which were presented to Parliament last night, are of farreaching consequence, and the recommendations serve as a preliminary to the introduction of legislation before the session closes.

Two commissions inquired into the question, one commission having particular reference to the borough of Otaki, and the other being of more general application. The personnel of both commissions was the same. The several questions put to the Otaki commission have been answered, but, in the main, the report is confined to particular difficulties which have arisen in the borough of Otaki, and which are not of universal application. The proposals contained in this report are expected to place matters in Otoki on a much more satisfactory basis than they have been for some time past, and legislation to this end is to be brought before the House at a later stage in the session. The main immediate factor concerning the Otaki report is that it introduces the principle of classification of borough lands for rating purposes and the levying of rates on a differential basis. This is recommended for Otaki. In addition, the recommendation is illustrated by a carefully-prepared and complete scheme of classification of the borough, whicli the commission deemed it necessary to prepare. The details of this scheme are contained in a plan from which any ratepayer in the borough will be able to see in which class his lands have been placed. ’ OTAKI'S PROPOSED DIVISION. Dealing particularly with the principle of classification, the borough has been divided into three classes, as follow :— Class A: Building land—i.e., land suitable for building purposes and having a frontage to a road or street. Class B : Potential building land —i.e., land having a potential building value, and other than the land included in Class A. Class C: Farm land—i.e., land used for farm purposes and not suitable for building purposes. Provision is made for the • lodging and hearing of objections. BASIS OF LEVY. The report recommends the proportions in which borough rates shall be levied in the different classes as follow: — Class A: 100-255. Class B: 85-255. Class C: 70-255. That is to say, for every £lOO levied on land in Class A, £B5 shall be levied on land of equal unimproved value in Class B, and £7O on land of equal unimproved value in Class C. The commission made it quite clear that on account of the peculiar difficulties prevailing in Otaki its report is not a panacea for the rest of the Dominion, and that it could not recommend universal classification without first having an opportunity of making further inquiries. As a result arrangements were made for the holding ot a further inquiry into the broad issue of classification of borough lands for rating purposes, andthe levying of differential rates by borough councils. This inquiry was held mainly in the borough of Feilding, and the commission also sat for some time in Wellington. Much evidence of an important nature from gentlemen who have from various angles given considerable thought to the question of rating was tendered to the commission, and after careful (inquiry it has furnished a report which broadly recommends the adoption of the principle of classification in those boroughs which have farm lands in them. It is the intention of the Government to bring down legislation on the subject. The commission in recommending the universal principle of classification has adopted the same three classes as in Otaki, namely:— Class A.—Building land, i.e., land suitable for building purposes and having a frontage to a road or street. Class B.—Potential building land, i.e., land having a potential building value and other than the land included in Class A. Class C.—Farm lauds, i.e., land used for farm purposes and not suitable for building purposes. Proposed Procedure. 1 The commission has stressed the I fact that before classification is ap-

plied careful inquiry in the case of each particular borough concerned should be made, and it has recommended a procedure to this end. Generally the scheme of the report for adopting classification is as follows: — (1) Petition for classification from any farmer in a borough; (2) Inquiry to establish a prima facie case. k (3) Appointment of classifiers with the powers of a commission under the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1908, to hold inquiry and classify into the classes mentioned. (This involves also fixing the proportion of rates to be paid by lands. in each class.) (4) Facilities for deposit and inspection of classification list. (5) Provision for objection by aggrieved persons or by the borough council concerned. (6) Provision for the classifiers to hear objections, if any, and to amend the classification list, if : ' thought necessary. After this, the classification list is signed by the classifiers and becomes operative on the following April 1. (7) A further provision is made for amending the classification list, but in order to provide for some stability in the incidence of rating, it is recommended* that a reclassification should not take place within a period of five years. Legislation This Session. Interviewed last night, the Minister of Lands (Hon. A. D. McLeod) announced that the Government later in the session proposed to introduce legislation along the lines of the recommendations of the commission. “I would like to make it clear," he said, “that the adoption of the report will not mean the automatic classifying of all boroughs. It will be quite apparent without my stating any particular cases that there are some boroughs which do not contain farm lands and in which classification would not be practicable. Farmers’ Heavy Payments. “The investigations into the questions covered by the report have been conducted in a very thorough and impartial manner, and the evidence submitted makes it abundantly clear that under existing conditions farmers in boroughs are not receiving a fair return for the amount paid by them by way of rates. In fact, having regard to the use they make of their lands and the impossibility of faking advantage of borough services, they are paying more by way of rates than is justified. Such matters as water supply, sewerage, street lighting and others are very necessary services to the thickly populated portions of boroughs ; but these services are quite useless to the majority of the farming community, yet they are often called upon to pay a higher proportion of the rates which finance these services, than the people who are receiving them. I do not need to enter into details as to the inequity of this position as it is made abundantly clear in the commisson’s report. . ■ “I trust that when legislation on the subject is brought down at a later stage in the session, members will facilitate the placing of this legislation on the Statute Book.”