RUSH OF RATES

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 38, 15 February 1933, Page 11

RUSH OF RATES

RECORD DAY'S TAKINGS

OVER £66,000

A record, by a big margin, was set up at-the City Rates Office yesterday —the last non-penalty day, when £57,671 lis 7d was t.taken over the counter, to which is to be. added over £9000 posted yesterday riad accepted this morning in time to avoid .the penalty. The total for the day was thus well over £66,000. , The previous biggest day was the last non^penalty. day last year, when £44,000 was received. In the last five working days over £110,000 has been paid in at the. Rates Office, evidence that if the ratepayer holds back as long as possible he will avoid tfie 10 per cent., penalty if at all possible.' ' The total rates demanded this year were approximately £509;000 and up till last night. £430,862 had; been collected, leaving £78,138 to be.collected by March 31, which amount has been reduced to-day by the posted cheques and notes, £9000, to about £69,000. Between the date of the imposition of the penalty last year and March ;31, 1932, approximately £25,000 was received, still leaving £44,000 in arrears at the end of the financial year; The position this year appears to be just about-on a level with,-that of la,.t year, for if the same amount can be gathered-in by March 31""the sum in arrears will also be about the same, that is, there may be a total or from £40,000 to £45,000 in arrears. This would be anything but satisfactory in. a -normal year, but it is not as bad as some prophets forecast a few months ago. AMOUNT IN ARREARS REDTJCiED. In addition to the .collection of current rates a total of £21,906 12s sd-has be.n paid off the amount in arrears since the beginning of the financial year. The greater part of this sum is iri respect of last year's rates, but in. a good many cases the amounts paid were in respect of previous years. It may take some time to analyse, tho position exactly. This collection of rates in arrears far exceeds the estimate, for at' the beginning of the financial year it was. generally accepted that the council would do- very well if it could collect £12,000 of the £44,000, outstariding. Today again the office is very tiusy, for this is the: last non-penalty day for many ratepayers, and some may avoid the additional 10 per cent, if they pay tomorrow. There is nothing like the rush there was yesterday, however, and for that the staff isl grateful, for in order to straighten things up for to-i day's collection, they worked steadily on till 2 a.m. Had 'ratepayers been a little more thoughtful they could have saved the staff such a tremendous day's work, and' they would also have saved themselves the annoyance and delay of lining up in queues. s • As Mr. H. L. Godber has retired from the office of Tate collector the work is now under the direction of the City Treasurer, Mr. C. Collins, and the rates branch of the Treasury Department, under Mr. B. C. King, chief clerk of the Rates Office. It is not proposed at present to Tenew the official position :of City Rate Collector.