RATES AND VALUES

Dominion, Volume 25, Issue 293, 6 September 1932, Page 10

RATES AND VALUES

Anomalies Submitted to Prime Minister AMENDMENT POSSIBLE Dominion Special Service. Auckland, September 5. Two questions of wide interest.to local bodies in their capacity as ratm* authorities were brought w Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. G. W. Forbes, by a deputation from He “ d ® r ' son Town Board. One related to the impossibility of collecting rates from reverting 1 to the Crown, and the other to anomalies under the Valuation of Land Act which enabled owners to secure reduced valuations by offering their holdings to the when there was little likelihood that the Crown desired to purchase. The Prime Minister said the question had been under the Government’s consideration for some time. He recognised the difficulties thereby caused to local bodies. “No doubt in normal, times we could meet the position, said Mr. Forbes, “but now the Government is more hard up than the local bodies —that is the strength of it.” “I can assure you that there Is no competition between the Government and private lenders,” continued Mr. Forbes. “The State lends money for the purpose of helping those who could not be accommodated otherwise. The State merely lends its borrowing powers for the purpose.” Regarding the valuation question, Mr. Forbes said that was another of the problems brought about by the depression. “Many properties are offered to the Government,” he said, “but we do not want to buy a lot of little isolated sections. It has been suggested that anyone within a certain period should be allowed to take advantage of such offers. If the land were not then taken it would be pretty certain that it was not worth the price asked. I recognise that the offering of the property to the Government does not give a fair indication of its value. An amendment of the law on that point is under consideration. We want to put the position on a fairer basis and to protect local bodies to a greater extent. I hope we may be able to deal with the question during the coming session of Parliament.”