UNION OF BOROUGHS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21160, 18 April 1932, Page 12

UNION OF BOROUGHS.

'BIRKENHEAD AND NORTHCOTE

THE RATING QUESTION. STATISTICAL COMPARISON. The official statement prepared in connection with the suggested amalgamation of Birkenhead and Northcote gives prominence to a comparison of rating, \thich is on the unimproved value in each case. The respective statistics for the two boroughs are: —Area, Birkenhead, 3070 acres; Northcote, 1190 (combined 4260); population, 3410 and 2550 (5960) ; ratable .value, £347,304 and £259,507 (£606,811); loans over wliole £57,313 (£139,494); annual loan charges, £4772 and £3404 (£8176). Northcote had an additional loan of £38,600 for sewerage of portion of the borough, and this would continue to be paid solely by ratepayers within that drainage area. Any portion of Birkenhead served by drainage would undoubtedly be constituted a separate rating area, and bear the full annual cost of any loan raised for the purpose. Birkenhead collected 7d and Northcote 5.755 d in rates for interest, hospital, war memorial and general purposes, and Id and ?d respectively for wafer, while the drainage interest at Northcote was 3.245 d., The total Birkenhead rate was thus Bcl, plus a sanitation charge of £1 15s over the more populous portion, and in the case of Northcote, plus an annual refuse charge of two shillings in portion of the borough. The sanitation charge at Northcote of £2 12s was not taken into account, only 20 houses being affected.

These rates on a £3OO valuation produced':—Birkenhead: Consolidated, £8 15s; water, £1 ss; sanitation, £1 15s; total, £ll 15s. Northcote: Consolidated, £7 3s lid; drainage interest, £4 Is 2d; water, 18s 9d; water flush, 10s; refuse, 2s; total, £l2 15s lOd.

On tho present ratable value of £547,304, the Birkenhead general rates at 3.625 d produce £5,245, and of £259,507 at 2.6191 din the case of Northcote, £2830, a total of £8075. To produce a similar amount' over a united borough would require a general rate of 3.194 d, representing a reduction of .431 d to Birkenhead and an increase of .5749 d to Northcote. If a uniform rate of Id for " water was adopted, the Northcote increase would be .3249 d (general .5749 d and water .25d). The rates would therefore be:—Birkenhead : General, etc., 3.194 d; interest, 3.375 d; water, Id; total, 7.569 d, plus sanitation, £1 15s. Northcote: General, 3.194 d; interest, 3.1359 d; drainage interest, 3.245 d; water, Id; total, 10.5749 d, plus water flush 10s and refuse 2s. On a £3OO valuation this would mean £ll 4s 3d for Birkenhead and £l3 16s 5d for Northcote.

The Northcote ordinary interest rates are practically less than those of Birkenhead, and, at the new rate of 3.272 d in •> the event of a uniform rate levied over the whole of the united borough, would represent 3s 5d increase to the Northcote ratepayer on a £3OO valuation. The alternative to a uniform rate is to constitute the existing borough areas separate rating districts, so that tho present interest rates would be continued unaltered.