FARM LAND RATING

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 51, 7 September 1928, Page 6

FARM LAND RATING

OTAKI AND FEILDING

CLASSIFICATION SCHEME

THE GENERAL POSITION

The reports of the Commission of Inquiry which _ inquired into the question of rating on farm lands, with particular reference to Otaki and Feilding, were presented to Parliament last night by the Minister in charge of the Valuation Department (the Hon. A. D. M'Leod). ' : The main immediate factor concerning the Otaki report is that it introducos the principle of classification of borough lands for rating purposes and the levying of nates on a differential basis, and this is recommended for Otaki. In addition, the recommendation is illustrated by a carefully prepared and complete scheme of classification of the borough, which the Commission deemed it necessary to prepare. The details of tliis scheme are contained in a plan. THREE CLASSES. Dealing particularly with the principle of classification, the Otaki Borough has been divided into three classes as follows:— ' 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. The report recommends the proportions in which borough rates shall be levied in the different classes, namely: Class A.—loo-255ths. Class 8.—85-255ths. Class C—7o-255ths. That is to say, for every £100 levied on land in class A, £85 shall bo levied on land of equal unimproved value in Class B, and £70 on laud of equal unimproved- value in dlass-C.- -.....- Commenting on . s the.j.eppjt.,,iri,. an* interview, the Minister-said'lid was .sure that the proposals would place matters in Otaki on a much'inpre satisfactory basis than they had been for some time past, and legislation to that end would be brought before the House at a later . stage of the session. INDIVIDUAL INQUIRIES. The inquiry into tlio broad issue of classification of borough lands for, rating purposes, and the levying of differential rates by bprough councils was held mainly in the borough of Feilding, and the Commission also sat for some time in Wellington. The report broadly recommends the adoption of the principlo of classification in thoso boroughs which have farm lands in them. Legislation on this subject will bo brought down later in the session. In recommending the universal system of classification the Commission has adopted the same three classes as in Otaki. The Commission has stressed the fact that before classification is applied 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 prinia facie ease.. . (3) Appointment of classifiers with the powers of a Commission under the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1908, to hold inquiry and classify into classes. This involves also fixing the proportion of rates to bo paid by lands in each class. v /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 Ist April. ,(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 re-classification should not take place within a period of five years. . ... The Minister pointed out in the course of the interview that the adoption of the report wcmld not mean the automatic classifying of all boroughs. There wore some boroughs which did not contain farm lands, and in which classification would not be practicable. Mr. M'Leod added that the investigations into the difficult question of rating had_ 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 taking advantage of borough services, they are paying more by way of• rates than is justified," he said. "Such matters as water supply, sewerage, street lighting, and others aro 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." The members of the Commission were Mr. B. M. Watson, S.M. (chairman), Mr. W. T. Strand, and Mr. W. Nash. .