ASSESSMENT COURT.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIII, Issue 402, 20 May 1922, Page 6

ASSESSMENT COURT.

A sitting of the Assessment Court was held in Palmerston .North this morning. The president was Mr V. G. Day, S.M., Mr E. A. Campbell was Government assessor, and Mr G. Kendell was local body I assessor. One case was heard, that of Stevens, Easton, and Austin, owner-; of 4218 acres in the Mt. Robertson survey district, a property carrying a large amount of flax. A revaluation of the properly was made at £112,000, but the owners contended it should be reduced to £90.000, or taken by the Government at their valua tion. Mr limes represented the owners, Mr limes said that the objection was a more or less formal one, as they proposed to take advantage oi that section of the Valuation of Land Act, whereby they could request the Government to take over the land ai tile owner's valuation tailing a reduction in the assessment io that amount. The properly was part of the Moutoa Estate on the road from Foxlon to Shannon, about one mile from the main road. Only flax was grown on ihe place, but a very small amount of graying was also done. The value of the flax, £11,161, had been included in the unimproved value, which was a thing he could' not understand as the Ait said that no flax would be counted in the unimproved value, provided it was not planted by the owners. The value, he submitted, did not exceed £l6 per acre. The flax had been affected by disease, and the land was subject to flood. In 1916 the valuation was £8 per acre, and now it was £22 Bs, whereas they valued it at £l6 or thereabouts. Alfred Eraser, Foxton, accountant for the (inn which owns the land, said it was largely flax-bearing, being all low-lying swamp, in ihe centre of a basin, and being subject to frequent Hoods. In 1916 ihe valuation of £8 per acre included the growing of flax. His valuation to-day was £l6, excluding the flax, which would not bo worth over £2500 per annum, it was cut only once in four years. This was equal to a tax of £BO per acre. The market was very depressed, and was falling all the time. lii 1918 flax brought £B6; now it was only worth £3O. The royalty they received was now 12s 6d a ton, whereas it had been 40s a ion. The land was not used for anything but flax growing, except to' (graze a few head of stock. He based Ins ! valuation of £l6 an acre on the fact that ihe land was of no use for anything but ■ flax Grazing brought in about £290 n ! year this including ihe rent of two small | holdings on the river hank, one of 40 I acres and ihe other of 30, for whicn they received £1 per acre as rem. It was not : a place thai would sell if cm up into allotJ nients as the risk of floods from the Munawaut river was too great. ... The president said that going back to the lowest part of the market the firm had 'been receiving a return ot about £BUUU j without spending a sixpence. Continuing, Mr l'rasor said that last year the toial returns amounted to £0913 ! net. The laud tax came io over £3OOO, i and the cotintv and drainage taxes made lup another £IO9O. The property was open I for sale for £90,000 cash. Dairying could i not be carried on except after a large sum lof money had been spout on the land. He considered that a fair average royalty was between 15s and 20s per ton. The president stated that it would pay the. Government, lo give. £90,000 in bonds for the land, and get all that revenue without expending anything. The Court briefly conferred and announced that the revaluation would be sustained.