The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, JUNE 24, 1901. A DEFECTIVE VALUATION.

Gisborne Times, Volume V, Issue 140, 24 June 1901, Page 2

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, JUNE 24, 1901. A DEFECTIVE VALUATION.

The magnitude of the interosts involved and tlie pressing nature of the public works now undor discussion demand the most serious consideration of the ratepayers and the public. The capabilities of the district to bear the burdens necessarily involved by the acceptance of the two schemes under review require to be carefully gone into, and it is of great importance to ascertain whether the burden, which must be a great one, can be so adjusted as to be bearable by the ratepayers. It will be necessary, beforo any amalgamation of the suburban districts with the borough can take place, that there should be a uniform system of valuation prevailing in the three places, and it is this aspect of the question only that we propose to deal with in this article. The Secretary of tho Harbor Board in a lettor appearing in this issue statos that for the calculations for rating purposes there is no substantial difference in the capital assessment of tho Borough'since 1898. We refuse to accept this statement as representing the true position of affairs in the Borough, and we doubt whether the public will do so. Mr Witty states that he has the Government valuation for tho Borough for 1901, and if that be so we should liko to be furnished with tho name of the gentleman who compiled the return, together with the amount paid by the Board for the work of valuing. We are satisfied it does not reflect favorable on his skill as a valuator, and in support of this statement would quote a few instances. A corner section and building in Gladstone road recently changed hands at £SOOO, and was considered by many cheap at that figure. Tho ordinary definition of the term capital value is the cash selling price of the land and buildings, and yet we find this section on tho Harbor Board books as only worth £2980. This property returns to the Harbor Board tho sum of £9 6s 3d, but assessed at its proper capital value would return £l7 10s, surely a consideration for a body that requires every penny of its income. Justice to the community must be our warrant for referring to this particular case. We would also cite this instance for the information of Whataupoko and Haiti residents who persist in declaring that the rates in tho suburbs are lower than those paid in town. Here we have the case of a property, the capital value of which is £5600 (seeing that it could not bo bought for less), paying to the Borough the sum of £3B 12s and Harbor Board £9 6s 3d, a total of £l7 18s 3d. If the same property were situated at Whataupoko it would be chargeable to the extent of two rates of throe-farthings each and one of a halfpenny, which, together with half the Harbor Board rato charged in the Borough, would amount to £sl 0s 51d, a difference in favor of the Borough of £3 8s 2-Id. We know of a section and building in the main street for which the owner is asking something over £2OOO, and for which about half that amount is offered, the capital value of which is assessed at about £SOO. Sections on the Waikanae which are soiling at £lO and upwards, and which in many cases have handsome villas erected on them, are assessed at £5 instead of forty times as much. In referring to these sections we are assuming that Mr Witty is correct in his statement that it is on the Government valuation of 1901 that he is basing his figures. There are properties in the borough which these two years back have been very largely improved by substantial buildings, ' and the Valuer must have had Ifis spectacles off when he passed through, for their existence has been ignored. It is no wonder Mr Stafford when comparing his £315 property in the borough with one of similar value iu the suburbs owned by Mr Lynar could not convince the latter gentleman that tho rating was lighter across the river. Mr Lysnar was considering the rateable value of Mr Stafford’s section, which capitalised amounts to nearly £7OO. and yet the capital value appeals in the 1901 assessment as £315. Mr Harris made a liberal offer to Mr Stafford of 50 per cent increase on the Government capital value assessment ; Sir Stafford still appears to be considering it. To use Wr Witty’s own words—wa gre sorry to dispel the illusion on his part that the capital value of the borough of Gisborne has not increased, but in the interests of the ratepayers we must do so. This is a serious matter for the Harbor Board, for the amount they receive in rates from the borough is dependent upon the capital value. The Rating Act provides as follows: “ Any local

authority, for the purpose of collect- ' mg any rate either on its own behalf or on behalf of another local authority, may make the adjustment thereon so as to admit of it being collected under whichever system may be in force in the district of the local authority collecting the same upon the basis that one shilling in the pound upon the annual rental value shall be deemed to be equivalent to three-farthings in the pound upon the capital value o f any property , or that the annual value of rateable property shall be the sum which is equal to six pounds per centum on the capital value of such property , and vice versa respectively. Mr W. D. Lysnar, in his letter appearing in last Friday’s issue, gave the actual figures upon which the borough rates had been struck. He showed that the annual rateable valuo had increased from £26,484 in 1899 to £33,100 in 1901, and as one cannot advance without the other, how can it be said that the capital value has not increased. Following the provisions of the Act quoted it should be plain to every ratepayer that if tne rateable value be 1,33,109, the capital value must be L 551.516. It will therefore be seen that making duo allowance for the rateable value being higher in tho borough than it should be, the capital value of the borough cannot he less than 1400,000, and when a proper valuation is made we will be found to bo very little out in assessing it at that amount. Probably this matter has been carelly gone into, and the Harbor Board may be able to explain it all away. "We have our doubts, however, and shall look forward with interest to receiving an explanation from the Gisborne Harbor Board. It is a matter of great concern to the ratepayers of tho county that tho Borough should pay its fair share of the taxation for harbor improvements, more especially as tho town properties are chiefly benefited by those works. And it is of still further importance in view of the proposed amalgamation that a right estimate in regard to the capital value of the Borough should be obtained. The Harbor Board being the chief parties interested we look to them to obtain the information for the public.