Untitled

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume 6, Issue 596, 10 January 1879, Page 2

Captain Ferris, whcr was lately appointed by the Government as Valuer, unler the Land Tax Act, has commenced his duties. It will be the business of land owners to give the Valuers all assistance m their power, and should anyone refuse to fill m the several schedules which will be handed them, or till them m knowing the statements to be incorrect, he will be subjected to a penalty of £50. The Valuers have received their instructions, which they are bound to carry out, but they will be greatly dependent upon the assistance given them oy laud owners. The folluwiug are the official instructions forwarded to the valuators : — 1. Valuations are regulated by sections 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 21, 22, and 23. 2. Preparation of Valuation Lists by sections 20, 21, 22, and 23. 3. Evidence m Support of Valuations by sections 34, 35, and 36, As the strict realization of the objects of the Act, as well as the strength of the evidence, m cases of disputed valuations, will so much depend on the clearness and accuracy with which the details of each valuation are worked out and set down m the Valuer's Note-book, every care is enjoined to insure correctness m making up that book. Whenever practicable the Valuer should go to the nearest Chief, or District, Survey Oifice, and make notes from any records and plans which may be there of the particulars of each property as to locality, name of owner, section, or other number on plans, extent and boundaries. In the valuation of lands, whether town, suburban, or rural, the^Valuer MBaafciot take foi^ grante^^^B the

owner may set down m the return which the latter will be called upon bo make, but he must satisfy himself of the correctness of the same by every means m- his power, and note m his book the grounds for any lifference which may exist between his estimate and the owner's. In the valuation of improvements for exemptions, the following information with regard to houses and buildings must be particularly noted : 1. Their nature or use. 2. Their dimensions. 3. Their age. 4. The materials of which they are constructed. 5. Their condition. Whenever the Valuer finds a difficulty m arriving at a satisfactory assessment m any complicated or peculiar case, or that any serious differeiice occurs between an owner's valuation and his own, m which latter contingency he is particularly enjoined to avoid all dispute, he should at once communicate the particulars to, and request the direction of, the Deputy Commissioner of his district regarding it. It is also enjoined that, m the case of any owner of lands m different places m the district who may possess one or more pi-operties that may ! not severally be of sufficient value to come under the Act, but tliat m the aggregate they will do so, care must be taken that m all such cases the owners must be placed on the valuation list, and the aggregate net value of all their lands given for the purposes of taxation. With reference to section 3 of the Schedule of Prescribed- Regulations, m Order m Council, New Zealand Gazette, No. 118, 1878, repeating the returns to be required from owners, &a, these returns shall be duly copied into the Valuer's Note-book, if situate m his district, m the order of their receipt, and docketed with the date of same, and also the reference numbers, severally, to the Note-book, Valuation-book, and List, with signature of Valuer thereto, and then transmitted with the Valuation List to the Deputy Commissioner. If the owner should have property m any )ther district, he must also fill up a return of same, which the Valuer nust at once forward to the Deputy Jommissioner of his district, noting it same time the fact on the owner's »ther return and m his Note-book. N. B. — Eoery property, no matter 'toio small, must be valued and en;ered m the No L e book, and along .vith the Valuat.oi List to which it .refers, to the Deputy Commissioner List there must be entered all properties belonging to one person that •each a total net value, after deduct.ng the " Exemptions for Improvements," of over £500. [By the twentieth section of the Act, separate Valuation Lists for each county and borough must be completed and transmitted to the Deputy Commissioner of the district on or before the 15th February, 1879.]