CORRESPONDENCE.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LIII, Issue LIII, 23 May 1908, Page 5

CORRESPONDENCE.

NEW PLYMOUTH HARBOR BILL.

(To the Editor.)

Sir, — In your yesterday's . issue you publish re above Bill "Financial position as explained by Mr Maxwell." The figures are interesting and instructive, and will very well serve to illustrate as well as bear me out iir my contention that now is the time if ever, that Hawera ward r and similar ar§as((prob-j ably ' fairly w[eil defined in the , third schedule, "with, the addition^of Opunake town areavantl Waiiara, Harbor, area) should .oppose -accepting any .further, NeW'Piymptitir harbor liabilities^^ V,,.-.,. . If will, tak£, say,., d5150,t»Q0. tp A coyer, renewal of balance, of, old loap, which sum 't^'ji' per centl, with, \. per .cent, for sinking "fuqd added, plus £500 cpst> of collection; would amount to (an an? niial charge of £8000. Against' this(t am. using Mr Maxwell's figures throughout) we have £4660 land revenue,, with an increase during and by the end of, ten years of another £3750. To start, with we will take the £4650 from total annual charge, £8000, . which leaves £3350 to provide rates for. This spread over a valuation of upwards of nine millions, the whole of the present rating area works out' at under oneeleventh of a penny in the pound, or on a £30 per acre valuation something like one pound per hundred acres, with an entire cessation of all rate by at latest a period within the next ten^years^^tVe will now, deal' with the .harbor,, teavmg out the third schedule' area, we c naye over. ,four million -valuation. ;>„ '§hy suf^' up to another £150,000 can easily be raised; on Mr\ Maxwell's iphowjiig. T$ meet" the interest on tbis^ second loaty. we. Have harbor, endowments £1030, tq be let £2343, extra £402', total £3755, plus ;the £4500 earmarked harbor ear^j ingl/jjplusvia (total amotmt, terlst ;<oia unexpended portagnjpj 'jpgnl (Tbje ; spending of loan will Tapje several yearsj and t^eV^experide^^^tipjnp^nll be tempprafilyl interest bearoßg^^TiiS £60p0. can be 'Spread over several years; and;, will- make-up the endowMSpfc'.rent amounts pending 'time, the maximum 'of £3755 is reached. f We .will thusihave a sum of £8250, per annum 'available -for interest on second loan, a maximum' rate of a farthing simply by way of security might be needed, but should (again on Mr .Maxwell's figures) never be collected. Same would, apply to redemption of old loan. The maximum rate f of one farthing would suffice as security in addition to the land reve^ nue. In this way we would have a sound scheme. The third schedule area would have a nominal farthing rate. The remaining four million area would have a second nominal farthing, onehalfpenny in all, and their money to complete harbor as well. The areas served by Patea, Opunake and Waitara would continue to be joint partners with the New Plymouth four million area in the old liability, thus avoiding the injustice of -allowing a portion to escape their liability, as would be the case in the proposed Bill. And; further, and what is $f the utmost importance to the Hawera ward, we would know exactly where we were. The proposed Bill recognises differential rating. , This I contend is not enough. It is a, case of differential liability. The past- thirty^ years' experience should surely convince Hawera ward ratepayers that they should not lose the present opportunity to escape further New Plymouth harbor entanglement.-r-I am, etc., JACOB MARX. \,