HAURAKI PLAINS RATES.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXV, Issue 4767, 22 October 1924, Page 3

HAURAKI PLAINS RATES.

THE POSITION TO-DAY. NEED FOR CONSIDERATION. The statement of the county clerk at th° last meeting of the Hauraki Plains County Council, that he doubted if any section of coul-1 afford the road rate of 6%d in the £ which a certain group of settlers in the Horahia riding had asked the council to levy, coining from the source it does, brings to the fore i question that has been in the minds of many men for some time, and also gives rise .to the doubt, often expressed, that landowners do not thoroughly weigh the question economically before piling up liabilities on their lands. Rates are the first liability on the land, taking precedence to firet mortgages, yet it is doubtful if ratepayers on the Plains realise the full amount of this liability. It is difficult to quote the exact figures for any one section of land, or even for one riding, owing to the multiplicity of special rating areas ; but an effort will here be made to do so for part of the Horahia riding. The figures given do not apply to every section in the riding, and there is a possibility that all the figures do not apply to any one section, but the landowners will kno.v what special rating areas their land is in, so will be able to assess their liability for rates.

The county general rate is 2d, the hospital rate %d, antecedent liability %d. No. 1 machinery loan No. 2 machinery loan 5-9 d, Kopu ferry 1-16<1, Kopu ferry approach roads %d. Orchard bridge l-sd, Puriri ferry approach roads %d, riding reading scheme 3%d, Government drainage 291-100 d, and Horahia-Opou special drainage rate 4-sd. Then there is the liability for the rate struck as security for such reproductive work as the Thames Valley Electric Power Board’s reticulation and the County Council’s housing loan. Hitherto it has not been necessary to collect these rates, and in all probability the necessity will not arise, but nevertheless there is the liability on the land. The Horahia Drainage Board, w’hich will come into operation very shortly, will immediately levy a rate, for it will require to collect money, before it can commence work. Government drainage rates are for work-, already done, so two drainage rates will have to be. paid the same year. The county general rate will almost certainly be increased next year. At the present time it has been anticipated to the extent of £8349, which is almost the amount a 2d rate would produce. The hospital rate will probably be increased, and the riding reading loan may require to be augmented owing to the extra cost of the work. Little is known of the provisions of the Main Highways scheme, and it is possible that the whole of the highway within, the county will be declared a county road, in which event a loan may be necessary to bring the road up ; to the required standard. The section beyond Waitakaruru is unmetalled, an l under no circumstances can the adjacent land alone bear .the cost. If the County Council’s bridge policy is ever brought into effect there will be a rate over the whole of the county foi the • existing Netherton and Orchard bridges, the proposed Kirikiri bridge, for which the county will contribute £12,000, the Pipiroa bridge, which will cost the county at least £6OOO, and the Maukoro deviation bridge, as well as any others that may be built under section 119 of the Public Works. Act. All this, of course, is painting the picture at its very blackest, as some of the rates may not be collected ; but the fact remains that a big proportion of the rates due to the county council is now overdue, and that many settlers are quite unable to pay. Land was purchased in many cases at boom prices,, and no consideration was given to the amount of rating.liability. What, then, is the remedy ? Obviously, for that which is past there is no remedy. Loan rates will have to be paid for the unexpended term of 36% years, and if the council cannot collect sufficient to pay interest and sinking fund it will have to sell up the defaulters. It may be possible for the county general rate to be used during the first half of the' year to pa?/ the interest on loans, but this would mean that maintenance work would have to be restricted until the bulk of the rates came in, which would not be during the winter months, when most of the maintenance is required. As the liability already incurred cannot be altered, and there is a limit to the amount of taxation which land will carry, authority should in the future only be given for absolute necessities. Luxuries can only be afforded by those well able to pay for them, and it is flor the ratepayers to say what are necessities and what are luxuries after considering their ability to pay.