RATING PROBLEM.

Gisborne Times, Volume LXVII, Issue 10566, 20 April 1928, Page 5

RATING PROBLEM.

FARM AREAS', IN BOROUGH BOUNDARIES. GOVERNMENT MAKES FORWARD MOVE; commission of inquiry. ! % —•—— j OTAKI SELECTED* AS TYPICAL . 'INSTANCE.- '. "' I (Press AVELLINGTON, April 19. The Government ig setting up a‘, - commission of enquiry to deal with ’ rating -matters in the borough oft Otaki. [■ Hon. A. .1). McLeod, ‘ Minister riri .Charge of the Valuation Department, ■ said to-day that the in,ability of small - farmers balding areas within bor-' oiighs and town districts to meet) the increasing demands tor the pay- : meat of .both general arid special) rates on their properties, Inns been: prominently .brought under the no-,; tice of .-.the Govrirnmcrit in recentyears by way of requests , for Local: Bills 'and for commissions for the pur- - peso of excluding their farms from the burbilgh boundaries. ■ In 'both cases the object is to avoid tliCi payment of the' heavy borough taxation, which in a growing number of iustn nces, amounts • practical ly to an; entire confiscation'of'-the value of the; land. It is nqt uncommon to see a» variation of up to a 1000 per cent. in< local taxes levied upon one, property,., merely because one portion of it iis. situated within a borough and the other in an adjacent county. “In a few eases,” said the Minister, “Local Bills have been passed by Parliament in an endeavor to? rectify tlie anomaly, but the most popular means, has been by way of a petition to exclude the areas affected from the borough limits. This ■ method, however,, does not provide a) solution for the' following reasons:* (1) Protection of local body finances: : (2) the continuing liability' of excluded lands for special rates. “Hie whole question has been under consideration by the Department of Internal Affairs and the Valuation Department for some time,” continued the Minister, “and in view of the fact that it is of such general importance, and that such diverse interests are involved, tlio Government has decided to set up a commission to make a comprehensive, enquiry into the matter as it- obtains in the borough of Otaki. This commission, which consists of Mr. R, M. 'Watson, Stipendiary Magistrate, Feilding, as chairman; Mr. AV. T. Strand, Mayor of Lower Hutt; and Mr. AP. Nn.«h general secretary of' the N.Z. Labor Party, proposes to commence its investigations at Otaki on May 8, 1828 “The order of reference submitter for the consideration of this commission,” he said, “is very wide, embracing questions relating to boundaries. wards, health, valuations, loans and differential rating systems of rating. “The Otaki borough was selected for investigation because it presents a. typical instance of the problem referred to, and it is easily accessible to expert witnesses. )It is the sincere desire of the Government that the fullest enquiry be made into all matters which may either .directly or indirectly be the cause of the difficulties referred to.”