LEVIN BOROUGH VALUATION.

Otaki Mail, 12 May 1922, Page 4

LEVIN BOROUGH VALUATION.

* SEVEN'i* PEtt CLNT INCREASE. I I < NUMEuOUS Olijiiu'i'iO.S'i lu BE I ENTERED. I i Lasi week notices, were leoeived by properly uwheisi in uie borough 01 Uie new valuations placed upon iiieiiholdings, ii wuo xuiij f.viJcctL-a uiut, increusies would be made, seeing that ! the last assessment was made m ui4,' eight years ayo, and mat since then tiie land boom has reached its pea»\. It was scarcely thought, however, that the increases would he so heavy as they now appear, and in sevoial quarters, it is siated, objection will he made to the valuations. At the assessment in 1914, the capital value ol I the land, buildings and other improve- ■ merits in tiie borough was set uuvvn at £285,735. New buildings and revaluations in the interim brought the total up to £323,12a last year, and the new assessment now made public places the capital value 01 the borough at £518,094 an increase of nearly 70 per cent over last year's total. The Government's justification of such a large acldtion to the values would be that the valuations are somewhat below the selling price of property in the borough, and while that might have been true last year, it is not 1 true to the same extent now, \,nen the property market is more or icss I at a standstill, and when the crest ol ithe wave of high land values is past. So far as borough rates are concerned, the higher assessment will not «make a great deal 01 difference, as ; the same amount of money will be I collected in rates, and the amount in (' the pound will simply be reduced, but lor land-tax purposes and hospil'al board levies, the enhanced values mean large increases in the rates and 'axes and should be contested if for n» other reason. The new valuation roll has been received at the Borough Council chambers, where it may he inspected during office hours. Objections must he lodged before May 16, and, unless any settlement, is arrived at, will come before the special Assessment Court set up by the Government to deal with objections at a later date. Owners desiring to object should impure into the position before the date mentioned. inquiries made by a Chronicle representative revealed some interesting comparisons. In one case of leasehold land at one end of oxford Street, anil mi the fringe of die business area, ihi> j unimproved value is assessed at £2l 10/ per foot a- against £l."> in 1911. ' Willi the improvements, the value is ! set. down nt .€27 5/ against C2f) 15' in ' 1 1914. Freehold land in the snme vici--1 1 nity, however, is only valued at £2, j ; 10/ per foot, its value for business 1 i"'-j ; poses evidently being considered les<; than the leasehold. Tn the centre oi the business area the value put upon freehold is £6l per foot of an increase from CiT in 101-1. A pro-j ' perty situated between those above i street, still in Oxford street. £24 is I quoted is assessed at £sl a foot, s*.n increase from £35. North of Queen put upon some of the frontages, an , increase from £l2 10/ ill 101-V. Coming to the residential of the town, the increases rant" 1 generally from 6(1 tn 100 per cent, lit one case quoted the capital value ol n house and three-quarters of an acre , in Vork Street has been increased from C 505 in 1914 to CIOBO in 1022. Improvements set down at £470 in 1914 are now valued at £IO3O, and the land value is increased from £35 to £SO. I it is something of a puzzle how the j '•'unimproved" value can he incre-is-» j f-a at all. but i; has been done in I ! most cases. A half acre in Queen Street, with house, is assessed at | £S9O .unimproved £IOO, improve-. merits £790 as against £630 in "i'.'li. Owners of small farms in the borough have been heavily hit. and it > i, is these lands thai have become of less ! value proportionately owing to the [all in produce prices. An eight-acre property with house is assessed a' £2220. as against £1250 in 101'.. The improvements are valued at £Bl6 as against £795 eight years ago '£l7s per I acre for the land alone. In another case in Queen street East three acres ! are assessed at the rate of £157 per acre. Objections are promised in j these instances. } The owner of a bouse a nd five-acre .block states that his property was J valued twelrer months ago, when the j house was erected, a: £1446. 1 lie . market ha= steadily declined Mn< ; e : then, but the value now placed on ihe j property is £1940. He certainly in- j tends to object. j