LOWER RATES PROPOSED

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20901, 17 June 1931, Page 11

LOWER RATES PROPOSED

MANUKAU COUNTY COUNCIL. NOTICE OF , MOTION : GIVEN. PROCRESS WITH VARIOUS WORKS Reductions in rates totalling £4520 are provided for in the notice of motion to strike rates which Mr. F. M. Waters, chairman of the Manuknu County Council, laid before that body yesterday. A proposed reduction of l-16d in the pound in the hospital rate would amount to £I3OO, and reductions in various special rates would account for £524. The balance of the proposed reduction, £2705, would he produced by reductions in general rates in the various ridings. In the Mangere riding, the reduction in the general rate proposed is l-16d, in the Pakurangit riding jd, in the Papakura riding l-16d, in the Papatoetoe riding 1-lbd, in the Turanga riding l-16d, and in the Wniroa riding Jd. Doubt whether the appointment of a purchasing committee was justified was expressed by Mr. C. S. McCallum. The chairman said he did not think anything will bo saved by the committee. In (he past, the county clerk had always received competitive prices for supplies. The only difference was that now the members of the council would be in direct touch with all expenses, and the clerk would be relieved of., the responsibility of making the actual decisions. The engineer, Mr. J. R. Page, .reported that in the past month no naw construction works had been commenced, and those previously reported upon had been carried on toward completion under more or less difficult conditions. The amount of money which could be applied for in the shape of Public Works Department grants was considerably less than in previous years. The cash allocation for the year ending March 31, 1932, had been tentatively fixed at £2614, and the total of applications at about £3900. Items brought forward from last season and requiring to be revoted amounted to £2290, leaving about £l6lO available' for new items.

The reconstruction work on the Tamaki River Bridge on the Great South Road was proceeding steadily and satisfactorily. The extension of the arch had been carried out, a considerable portion of the work in connection with extending the girder span had been effected, and a large ' proportion of filling and masonry work done. The ' bulk of the work affected by the tides had been dealt with, .

PAYMENTS OVERDUE. NO REMISSION OF PENALTY. Considerable discussion took place at the meeting of the Manukau County-Coun-cil yesterday on the advisability of remitting the 10 per cent, penalty on unpaid rates. The question was introduced by Mr. S. Rickards, who moved that each application for the remission of the penalty" should be investigated on its merits by the chairman, the member for the riding concerned and the county clerk, for a. report to the council. "To roriit the penalties for all rates outstanding would be going too far," said Mr. J. Luke. "We should impose some time limit for their payment." "I do not like this idea of dealing with each case on its merits," said the chairman, Mr. F- M. Waters. "There are too many border-line cases. We should decide definitely one way or the other for all cases."

Mr. J. S. Dickson suggested that a notice be sent to all ratepayers with rates outstanding informing them that the penalty would be remitted if payment were made before July 31. Those who had already paid the penalty would have the money refunded to them, but these concessions would be applicable only to the past year's rates. After the effect of the proposal on the county's finances had been investigated, it was unanimously decided that in view of the fact that considerable reductions in the rates had lowered the council's revenue, and since £2OO, in addition to penalties already received, had been budgeted for yi the estimates as rate penalties, the council could not see its way to take action under the Finance Act, 1931.