LAND AGENTS

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVI, Issue 45, 21 August 1913, Page 8

LAND AGENTS

"SEND THEM TO THE FRONT" EXCESSIVE VALUATIONS. "He extends you the compliments of the season, sits on the front-door step, has a cup of tea, and then departs. Next day you find that your valuation has been bumped up £5 per acre." This was the complaint of a delegate at tho Counties' Conference to-day in speaking in favour of a remit: — "That local bodies, which have to contribute towards the cost of valuation work, should have some voice in the selection of valuers, especially in the case of revision work, when not less than two valuers should be appointed, one of whom (at least) should have local knowledge and experience." The speaker was describing the official visit of a valuer to his property. The officer never even looked at the property. He was satisfied so long as he partook of afternoon .tea. In that he apparently divined the value of the farm. Many tales were told of fictitious values. According to one speaker, the valuation of his county had gone up £100,000 in three years. Nevertheless, many delegates had a word of praise for the valuer. Mr. J. .Bailey (Waikato) said that land agents were at the bottom of the trouble. "If," he remarked, "we could get all the land agents in the country, put them in a compound, drill them, and then send them to the front when the first war happens along, we would have no more complaints about escessive valuations." It was pointed out by the President that what was required was not so much an actual value as an even value. The remit was carried, not without gome opposition, however. The Buller County was also successful in carrying a remit :— "That the conference protest to the Government against the unnecessary delay of the Valuation Department in making revaluations." The conference negatived a request by the Eltham County--"That after valuing all improvements benefiting land, that a proportion shall be taken off unimproved value and added to improvements to compensate settlers for mortgaging lands for roads and bridges, dairy factories, and incidentals."