THE CITY AND ORAKEI.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19731, 2 September 1927, Page 10

THE CITY AND ORAKEI.

The proposed terms for the merging of the Orakei road district into the city were approved by the City Council last evening, and as they have already received the endorsement of the commissioner of Crown lands and of the road board, any further action toward completing the union will presumably be confined to formal processes. As to the wisdom and the desirability of the amalgamation, there is no question. But since a request has been made for information regarding the financial aspect, it is regrettable that the council has accepted the terms without either explanation or assurances to city ratepayers that they constitute an equitable bargain. The principal point is whether the city should be asked to undertake liability for as large a sum as £200,000 in respect of roading, drainage and water works. If that is a reasonable debt to attach to the district upon its transfer to municipal control, there should be very little doubt of the ability of the district itself to bear the interest and sinking fund charges. According to the agreement, they will be at least £13,000 a year, which is just one-tenth of the estimated yield of the Is 2d rate for interest in the city this year. Hence, the ratable value of the Orakei district must be assumed to be about £200,000 and its capital value over £4,000,000. The magnitude of those figures will be appreciated by comparison with the capital valuation of the borough of Mount Eden, which is just over £5,000,000. Some" information regarding the proposed capital contribution has been given by the commissioner of Crown lands, who has explained that it is part of expenditure amounting to £354,000, exclusive of the cost of subdivision. But that amount includes no less than £192,000 in respect of the waterfront road and its extensions, regarding which the City Council is committed to an expenditure of £200,000, including the Tamaki district's share. Hence, on the commissioner's statement, the cost of other public works in the district will be £162,000 ; yet the City Council is to pay £200,000. The character of the arrangement appears to be more accurately represented by his statement that the £200,000 will "just about compensate the Government for what it will lose in the sale of the land," owing to its eventual liability to full city rating. That observation, together with the available facts, suggests that the Lands Department has secured a very good bargain, by which the City Council has been committed to granting a substantial subsidy to the prospective ratepayers of the Orakei district.