VALUATION ROLL ERROR

Taranaki Daily News, 29 September 1930, Page 3

VALUATION ROLL ERROR

EXCESS. PAYMENT OF RATES. DISCOVERY AFTER SEVEN YEARS. An unusual case in regard to an error in the valuation roll and the payment of rates for some years beyond the amount due was revealed at a meeting of die Tauranga Borough Council this week. Mr. C. E. Macmillan, M.P., in a letter regarding the valuation of Mrs. S. Layne’s property in. the borough, stated that investigation in the borough office disclosed that Mrs. Layne’s property was valued in 1923 as capital value £750, unimproved value £750. He took the matter up with the Valuer-General, and after several interviews with him he advised that fjie record in the valuation roll was the result of a mistake and that the correct entry should have been capital £7’lo, unimproved £2lO, improvements £5OO. Mr. Macmillan then added as Mrs. Layne had always paid rates it was ob-. vious that over a period of seven years the borough' council had collected rates on £520 of excess value, to which the council had no just right. “If you agree with riie that Mrs. Layne is entitled to a refund of the excess she has paid,” he continued, “I shall be pleased to move a clause for inclusion in this year s local legislation Bill drafted by the Crown law draughtsman validating the refund. “There is no doubt that Mrs. Layne has suffered great loss through the error of the Valuation Department and to the same extent that she has lost the borough finance has. gained. Therefore, the.mistake having been discovered, the right way to correct it is to refund ’-he money. Please .advise me what your council’s views inthe matter are. The Mayor, Mr. B. *C. Robbins, said it was a peculiar position. . Owing to the error made by the Valuation Department the sum of £7O or £BO had been overpaid by Mrs. Layne. It was a haulship, but the council could not niake a refund except by special legislation. If a clause were inserted in the Local Legislation were passed the council could riot make a refund during the present finan-, cial year but could do so next year. He moved that the Mayor be authorised Io consult with the borough solicitor with the view of preparing a clause to be inserted in the Local Legislation Bill to meet the case. The Mayor’s motion was carried.