PENALTY ON RATES.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 708, 8 March 1933, Page 7

PENALTY ON RATES.

City Council to Consider Position. NOTHING DEFINITE. The question of extending from March 16 until the end of the financial year on March 31, the date for the imposition of the 10 per cent penaltv on unpaid rates, will probablv be considered by the City Council at its meeting on Monday evening, but as yet no proposal has been made for An extension of the period. Last year the City Council granted an extension of the period until the end of the financial year, but this decision was not reached until after the announced date for the imposition of the penalty. In the circumstances it cannot be taken as certain that there will be an extension cf the period this year. Waimairi Rates. The Waimairi County Council has fixed March 13 as the last day for receiving rates before the imposition of the 10 per cent cut penalty, and as the council does not meet again until March 22, it is unlikely that the question of extending the period will be considered before then. Last year the council did not grant any extension of the period. The County Clerk (Mr G. S. Cowper) said this morning that the action of the Government in granting local bodies power to remit the penalty at this stage seemed like locking the stable door after the horse had escaped, as there were very few districts in which the penalty had not alreadv been imposed. He considered that it would be far better if local bodies were given statutory power to exercise a discretion. in the matter of imposing the penalty before March 31 in any year instead of dealing with the question year by year. The total rate levy in the Waimairi County is approximately £44,000, of which £17,500 has already been paid. The council has a receiving depot in Chancery Lane. Here about half of the payments are made annually.

NEW VALUATIONS. Reductions made in Waimari County. The revaluation of the Waimairi County has now been completed by the Valuation Department and will become effective as from the end of the financial year, on March 31 next. Details of the new assessments are not yet available, but it is expected that they will be issued within the next fortnight. The previous revaluation of the county was made in 1926, and it is understood that the new assessments show a reduction of approximately 20 per cent in the farming areas and slightly less in the residential portions of the county. The effect of the lower valuations will be to ease the burdens on the ratepayers in respect to the rates collected by the Hospital Board, Drainage Board and Waimakariri River Trust, and the other districts over which these rates are collected will be required to contribute a slightly higher percentage next year. The Cheviot County has also been revalued this year, but no information regarding the new assessments is at present available.