REVALUATIONS

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 143, 14 December 1933, Page 15

REVALUATIONS

NECESSITY FOR ACTION

TO PREVENT INJUSTICES

PRESENT-DAY YALTJES

The necessity for the carrying out of fresk valuations at an early'date, and the taking of steps to' prevent injustices to the ratepayers generally as the result of many applications for special valuations, were stressed by members in the House of Representatives last evening 'wlie'n^.tW, Valuation Department .Estimates, :w.ere..uiiddr discussion. . • ' ' :■ .-' . ."•■' . : Mr. R. MeKeen; fiAfyvr,'' WellingtonSouth) asked Ywhether : the, • ■ Minister would speed-up the .valuation of AVellington City. He also referred to- the large number; of private Valuations which were ; undertaken, and* pointed out that as a! result, of these! a. burden was put. on the rest of, the rate-/ payers. H&: asked whether- : tnp ncvi: valuation of Wellington<,,City would be completed in time to enable Hext year's rate notices to bevissued on'it. LEG^ISLATJCOIf PENDING.; The Minister of;iiancls..(the Hon. IS. A. Ransom) said that it was proposed to bring down legislation covering the point about the - special. valuations raised by Mr. MeKeen. , The valuation of Wellington City was proceeding, but it was not .possible -for it to be completed in time to enable next year's rates to bo struckl' on it. Mr. 0. A. Wilkinson (Independent, Egmont) asked whether it was not possible for the: valuations to bo : speeded up. Some Boroughs and .counties werei crying out, "for fresh and apparently ■ little progress was ■ being made. Would-it not be- possible for a larger staff to be employed on tho work? Taxation was, being levied On-values which did not exist. There was'anxiety for the whole of the counties and boroughs to be revalued. Could not a percentage valuation be made on the present.' valuations 1 WELLINGTON'S. POSITION. Mr.'G.H..Chapman (Labour, Wellington N6rth> said that tlie private valuations were talcing up so much of tho Department's time that the larger work of the reValuationof the cities was being held up. He/understood1 the valuation of Wellington City had dropped £ 2,000,000.. as: a , result of private valuations. It was-pi-obable that.the.Dfipartment -^as so anxious to, receive the fees for private' valuations that the valuation of the city was h.^ld np., - Wellington City, had made application' four or five months ago. Captain H. M. ißushwqrth (Country Party, Bay of Islands) asked whether the, Minister thought it possible to have valuations mad© till some meaning was attached to the money unit. It was like trying tp measure a building with an elastic foot rule when any attempt was made to make a valuation of any real property. The Minister said ;that during the last four or-five years 64 per cent, of the boroughs, counties, and cities had been revalued. ! '■'; :, ■!;■ ' " . ' ■! Mr. H. G. R. Mason'('Labour, Aueklaiia Suburbs): That means that the rest will be valued soon: Tho Minister said it was nbt desirable to put inexperienced men on to the work. Ho was endeavouring to put all; the -men available on the job without unduly, loading the Department as far; as, expenditure was concerned. [ .A reduction io.f 20 per cent, on valuations throughout the Dominion would liot ,be satisfactory,^particularly in view of the fact that sps'-many private valuations had been made. Private valuations were often niaii^ by extra men, and tho Department was)'riot so anxious to receive the valuation fees that it held up;other valuation-; work. J* V LOW, VALUES. ~. i ' Mr. W. Nash (Labour, Hutt) caid that hoUcne-w; of persons' \<'ho had placed absurdlj! low ..figures on their properties to escape paying-rates, and he suggested that if', tiie ,' fillister undertook; a campaign and took over some of those properties the practice would stop. Mr. W. ' A. ' Veitch ; (Government,, Wsvngan'ui)' said there was nothing mortt futile tli'an, trying to value land and property at tho present time, as the value of land depended,almost entirely oh things that were.likely to happen in the future. Tho Minister would be wise not to hurry along too much ..with the revaluation of land. If values were equally :too- high pr too Jo^v in thematter of rating:, no'injustice was done to any-; body. The principle on which the value was fixed was .the.selling, price, but how could the'selling price be arrived at when there were no buyers? Mr. H. G. Dickie (Government Patea) said that unless sections 45 and 50 "of the Valuation of Land Act were suspended, private valuations must proceed. He suggested that a' pro rata; reduction in values-- should be made throughout the Dominion. Tho Minister said that M- had at^ tempted to acquire two properties recently,,but in one case he had received, a letter,in which it was stated thaVltliS solicitor .offering the property had' noauthority to offer it, and in the other case it was stated that there had been a typographical error. Mr. P. Fraser (Labour, Wellington, Central): Why didn't the Minister call' the 'bluff in Wellington t ;. , The Minister replied that it had been done in one case., ; ' The Estimates were passed.!