UNIMPROVED RATING.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 1056, 14 October 1911, Page 2

UNIMPROVED RATING.

REMOVING AN ANOMALY

In moving the second reading of the Rating Amendment Bill, the Hon. U. Buddo said that it . was designed to do away with an 1 anomaly in the system of rating A by local authorities who rated on Jk the unimproved value system. The original Act provided that j rates for water, gas, electric light and hospital purposes could noc****'' - be levied on the unimproved value, so that where this system of rating was in ordinary use it meant having two systems in operation. This Bill would enable local authorities, if they wished, to levy on the one system right through. It was deemed wise to leave the taking of a ratepayers’ poll optional. Mr T. M. Wilford (Hutt) said that when the Bill was in committee he would move to make the taking of a poll of ratepayers compulsory. Mr G. Witty (Riccartou) and Mr W. Fraser (Wakatipn) also held that the ratepayers ought to be consulted before the unim-Nr' proved rating system could be extended in the direction indicated. The Prime Minister said that the Bill was practically a permissive one. It allowed a local authority to have uniformity of system if it wished. He agreed that the taking of a poll should be mandatory—(hear, hear) —leaving it to the ratepayers to make the final decision. The Minister of Internal Affairs had agreed to make this change in committee. He belived that the system of rating on unimproved value had on the whole worked very well indeed. It was a good thing to give the people an opportunity of saying whether it should not be extended to the “domestic” municipal services.

The Hon. T. Y. Duncan welcomed the pronouncement of the Prime Minister. Mr Allen could not see that sufficient reason had been given for the change in the system of rating. He thought that for watjjfr purposes it was unfair that a large building should be let off in proportion and a smaller building should have a larger rate imposed upon it. The same applied to sewerage rates. the: prime minister’s service.

Mr H. G. Ell (Christchurch East) remarked that he was pleased to be able to congratulate the Prime Minister upon being the New Zealand auidor of the legislation embodying the useful principle of rating on unimproved value. Sir Joseph Waid had introduced the Bill in 1894, and got it through the House, but it was thrown out by the Eegislative Council. This was again his experience in 1895, but it was passed in 1896, and the following year the Palmerston North borough , adopted the principle. It was now J in operation in twenty counties, thirty or forty boroughs and seven or eight road districts in New Zealand, and only one had gone back on it.

Mr E, Newman (Manawalu) stated that grazing runholders in the North Island who were induced to take up the land because the rates were light had now been forced, tnrough the Rating 1910, to pay as much as lour times their original rates. They had a twenty-one years’ lease, with no certainty of renewal, a most unsatisfactory tenure, which should be replaced by the renewable lease or the option to purchase. Mr R, W. Smith (Rangitikei) agreed that the small grazing runholders were being unjustly treated. He quoted the case of a constituent whose races had been increased by yearly through the Act of last year. Mr D. W. S. Macdonald (Bay of Plenty) declared that the grazing run tenure was exceedingly liberal, and its effect had been to enable the tenants to evade just liability for reading. One of these grazing run tenants admitted to him that he made an income of £6OOO per annum off his run, and it was time such persons paid their proper share of local taxation. The Hon. D. Buddo, in reply, stated that in committee he would meet the desire of many members to make it mandatory that a poll should be taken to decide whether the unimproved system should apply to water, gas, electric lighW charitable, sewerage, and similar rates.

The Bill was read a second time