The Hokitika Guardian THURSDAY, JANUARY l8th. 1923 A VALUABLE BOROUGH ASSET.

Hokitika Guardian, 18 January 1923, Page 2

The Hokitika Guardian THURSDAY, JANUARY lßth. 1923 A VALUABLE BOROUGH ASSET.

An important item of Borough revenue appears to lie involved in the leasing of the municipal endowment lands at Koiterangi, where the Hokitika Borough Council has an area of 1,800 acres as an asset. The area has been sub-divided into some eight or ten sections, and has been let for 21 years St £9O per annum, equal to is per acre put fW nm, Tlio Wrt 5a let /or f, full

| tenure of 12 years hut there is the right of revision of the rental at 21 years, with the very important proviso that the tenant has no right to iinprovc- . men Is. The tenants are desirous of n i better title, and have applied to the i Council. The Council is disposed to ibe rather sympathetic, which is the ’ usual development in such eases. llow- [ ever, there is the lalepayors side to he i considered, and it would be as well j if the Coutieil probed more deeply into ■ the matter before coming to a final j eoneluSioM. Wo have bad the valua--1 (ions of the land in question looked up , with the following result: 1907 1911 1921 j£ £ C j Pnimproved Value 4030 1370 .~f>73 Improved Value 2200 3308 1301

CaPi ta I Value C<T:l:lo £77 17 £9871

!l will thus be seen that llieie babcen a steady accretion in value which under the lease goes to the Ilnmngh Council. The increase ill unimproved value ha- been C].037 and in rbe value of improvements £2002. This is a total increment of £3539 by which the Council's endowment has been added to. That value will continue to grow, and the endowment must continue in he a very useful asset to the Council if the local body get anything like ■ fair return from the ‘reserve. The proposal now is to increase the rent by one-third, which will mean an additional L'.IO per annum, or a total of £l2O for tile year. This is not a very large return on a pioperty valued in the region of £19.000 but worth a good ileal more, though the value lias not liven created by the Council or by the ratepayers but by the tenants. Seeing that the property is to revert to the Council in its entirety at tlu* end of 12 years, half of which period is now drawing to a close, the nominal rental charged is not unreasonable. A very valuable asset will have accumulated to the benefit of the town, and in creating thul value the townspeople have carried no liability. At the lest they will have a return of about one per cent on the value of a property with 1 which the town was endowed, and 't will lie really in the next period, at. the elose of the 12 years, whore the town will be reaping a full return of the unearned increment. A good deal of water will flow down the Hokitika river in the meantime and many changes may come to pass, but of this we may be sure, the land will have grown substantially in value, and there will be a very valuable property in wind, by then may be considered practically a suburb of Hokitika. When that time arrives no doubt the position will be approached by the thou Council under a- revaluation system which will be fair alike to the ratepayers as the tenants. The latter might think he has a grievance in giving up all his >’m provements but there is the quid pro quo meantime in the nominal 'rental and it must he realised that sooner ir later, the matter will require to he adjusted to meet the original purpose for which he land was set aside as a valuable endowment for the town of Hokitika, and which so far lias yielded very little to the people as a whole.