CITY RATES

Evening Star, Issue 21012, 28 January 1932, Page 8

CITY RATES

£70,000 PAID IN YESTERDAY BUSY DAY AT TOWN HALL Yesterday was tho last official day set down for payment of the city rates, and, owing to the human habit of procrastination, a great many ratepayers took part in the last minute rush. The total amount of rates payable is about £304,400, and as £41,700 was the amount still outstanding last night, it can bo calculated that £262,700 had been paid in up till that time. The city treasurer , (Mr H. H. Henderson) told an ‘ Evening Star ’ reporter to-day that close on £70,000 in rates was paid in yesterday, a sum which represented about 3)000 accounts. This meant that during tho staff’s working day nearly eight accounts were dealt with every minute through the two cash registers. Tho last day for payment last year was at the end of December, when the sum of £15,000 was still outstanding. On a corresponding basis, therefore, the outstanding accounts may this time be twice as much as at the end of the 1930-31 period. However, when the difficult times are taken into consideration, the position is regarded as being no worse than it might have been. A very heavy mail arrived this morning, and it is certain that the unpaid money will be still further reduced during the next few days. It is expected that the amount outstanding will probably not' be more than 10 per cent, of the total amount. A large number of ratepayers, including many of the unemployed, have paid a portion of their rates, and have made arrangements to pay the balance by instalments. As a reminder for the current year, it may be as well to point out to ratepayers how extremely beneficial to all concerned is a system of paying the rates as early as possible instead of leaving the matter till tho last few days. There is no doubt that there are many laggards who could produce their rates months earlier than they do, and usually these are the very people who should appreciate the fact that money paid in promptly and deposited in the bank saves interest and enables the corporation to do much more for the ratepayers than the ratepayers could do for themselves on the little interest they would save on their individual contributions.

As an example, it can be estimated that if £IOO,OOO were paid in during the first six months, something like 63,000 in interest would be saved and put to use in improving the city,