The Rating Bills.

Opunake Times, Volume I, Issue 17, 28 August 1894, Page 2

The Rating Bills.

The Bill authorising rating on the unimproved value of land enables the ratepayers of a district to demand that a proposal to rate property upon the basis of the unimproved value shall be submitted to the ratepayers’ vote aud that a poll shall then be taken in the same manner as for a special loan No similar proposal shall be submitted to the vote of the ratepayers for a period of three years from the date of the first poll. If the proposal is carried, the local authority shall give effect to the ratepayers’ vote by special order. A valuation roll of the district, setting forth, instead of the capital value, the gross value, the value of improvements, and the unimproved value, will be prepared after such special order, and the rates of such district shall be levied on the unimproved value of the land. Objections to assessments may be made as they are now against assessments on the capital value. When this bill is adopted in any city, borough, county, or road or town district, all rates of the other local bodies in the same district, except those for water and gas, shall be levied on the unimproved value. . The Rating of Crown Lands Bill provides that all Crown lauds, with the buildings and improvements thereon, shall be rateable under the Rating Act, except the Parliament and Government Buildings at Wellington ; Government Houses and grounds at Wellington and Auckland, lands occupied by public schools, colleges, universities, museums, hospitals or charitable audother public institutions, public parks, reserves, defence works ; Crown lands within the counties of Kawhia, West Taupo, East Taupo, Fiord, Sounds, and Stewart Island, and all Crown land, of which there is no owner except the Colonial Treasurer. Crown lands may be rated on the capital value only, to only one fourth their value, and shall not be liable to any special rate. The Sur-veyor-General shall be the sole judge as to what Crown lands are rateable. The Government will also introduce anew Eating Bill, consolidating the existing legislation on that subject. —Times. '