Rates on Golf Course

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1075, 12 September 1930, Page 10

Rates on Golf Course

OTAHUHU COUNCIL'S PETITION Relief from Remission Sought POSITION OF MIDDLEMORE LINKS THE SUN'S Parliamentary Reporter PARLIAMENT BLDGS., Thursday. THE Government was recommended today to consider and inquire into the petition of the Otahuhu Borough Council seeking an amendment to the Y aluation of Band Act so t lai relief might he given to the council. When the report o the M to Z Petitions Committee on the petition came before the House this afternoon, it was explained by speakers that the Borough Council sought to have the remission rates on the Middlemore Golf Links done away with, as the system operated to the detriment of the Borough Council.

Mr. A. W. Hall (Reform —Hauraki) said the position should be investigated immediately. The borough for the most part was populated by working men and they were penalised in the way of rates because the golf course was in the middle of the district. The course was 177& acres in area, and by the remission was writren down by half for rating purposes. The value of the property was £20.140 and the rateable value £ 10,320. Thus the rates were reduced from £B7O 12s yearly to £435 6s. The golt’ club had recently taken over two more acres and this portion of the property was rated at £B2 15s, instead of £162 11s 9d. Under the law the Valuer-General had power thus to write down properties if they were used for recreational purposes, and he treated all alike, cutting them down by half. The loss in rates to the borough was thus £5lB 3s 4d. The area was not like an ordinary recreation ground, in that the public had no free right of access. The club was fairly exclusive and charged an annual subscription of £l2, reducible to £lO, and an entrance fee of £lO. Few of the ratepayers therefore had a chance of joining because of the expense. As an example of the rate burden on the people, Mr. Hall said that on every section valued at £2OO the owner had to pay an extra 4s 2d in rates. RIGHT OF ACCESS WANTED In the petition also it was asked that the public should have the right of access, to the course on certain days and though this might not seem pos aible to the club that aspect of the situation should be investigated. The public had the right of access to One Tree Hill in Auckland. Mr. Hall did not suggest that the club was holding the land for an ul terior purpose, though he said there had been cases whope land was held in that way and the owners escaped their fare share of rates. The Government should investigate fully this great injustice. Jt might be possible for the club to shift into a district where the rating was on capital and not on unimproved value. Mr. W. J. Jordan (Labour —Manukau) said the club occupied more than one-tenth of the total area of the borough and had recently acquired more land. It did not use all the land it occupied and the portion recently purchased had been originally offered for sale as a small farm because of the slump. However, there were no offers. The club had already made one move, as it had formerly to give up an area nearer Auckland because of excessive rates. The club also had sold part of the frontage at Otahuhu at £2OO an acre. It was not fair that golfers who used the land for pleasure should get off more lightly in rates than the small j farmers in the district. OPPOSITION TO PETITION | Mr. W. P. Endean (Reform —Parnell) spoke of the reason for giving the Valuer-General discretionary power to I cut down the valuation on land used i for recreation, saying that it had been recognised in the past that the health ' of the people must benefit by recrea- ' tion. It was important that the coun- ; try should breed a strong, virile type of ’ person, especially as the Government had cut out compulsory military training and was relying on fire brigades i for defence purposes.

People who worked in offices were j j entitled to some recreation. The golf j i course was bounded on one side by a i i railway line, on two sides by an arm ! of the harbour, and on the fourth side | by King’s College, so that the land was i practically useless for any other pur- } pose. Some -of it might be used for ; Chinese gardens, but it was improbable ! that tenants would he able to pay the | rates. One reason why Otahuhu was suffering, said Mr. Endean. was be- ! cause the valuations on the main ! street were out of date. They should |be four or five times higher. The club, i having spent thousands on improvet merits, could not afford to shift, i Mr. M. J. Savage (Labour —Auckland j West) complimented the committee on i its finding and said a club that charged j such a subscription was exclusive and ! the principle of remission was dan- ; i gerous. The report was tabled. ATTITUDE OF CLUB | REVALUATION OF BOROUGH URGED REPLY TO COMMITTEE Ail official of the Auckland Golf Club, commenting this morning on the recommendation, contended that the additional revenue which the borough requires could he obtained without, recourse to ratepayers owning small houses if the borough were revalued. In support of his contention that the main street properties of Otahuhu ; at present are undervalued, he cited j the following cases: i One section with a frontage of G6ft , I to the Great South Road is rated on j unimproved value at £535, but was | actually sold in 1929 lor £1,750, or j £26 10s a foot. I The adjoining section of 33ft fronti age is rated on an unimproved value ( of £l9O. equivalent to £5 15s a foot, i A third property of 66ft frontage | ; rated at £1,480 unimproved value was j ! sold to the present occupier for j j £4.500. This represents a value of i £6B 6s a foot. Another property with 27ft front- j i age rated on an unimproved value of . : £475 was sold for £2,380, or £BB a j : foot. “These instances, taken at random. I . show that values have increased from : £2O to £6O a foot, according to locality. and that ratepayers with property ; in the main, street of tjie borough escape j paying their just contribution to the j funds of the council,” lie says. INCREASE OF £IOO,OOO : “If the above increase in specific in- ; stances is a true indication of a similar increase throughout the length ' of the shopping area of Otahuhu. it ; i would appear that a revaluation of the, borough would increase the value fori rating purposes in the main street . i alone to the extent of £IOO.OOO. which, j if done, would give an extra £5.000 in; L i rates, and enable the council to reduce t i the rates payable by the majority of , | ratepayers. j “Though market values of the main : street have increased since the last i ! valuation in 1926, areas similar to that j utilises* by Ui* slub toav* -

creased. As proof ot that, reference , need only he made to the 39 acres ie- , cently acquired by the club. The unimproved value, according to last valuation, is £ 3,930, but in purchased by tlie club for £-,30U. “As to the amount paid in rates by . the golf club, since 1918 tlie rates have ; risen from £l5B to £528 and, in addition, since 192 3, the club has paid j in water rates, an average of £6- pei annum. This year it is expected this j figure will be doubled. In return for , This tlie club receives absolutely noth- , ing from the council in tlie shape oi drainage, sanitation or road repairs. These amenities of life are enjoyed by other ratepayer?; in the borough. “Not onlv in the payment of rates is the Golf Club of material benefit to the Otahuhu Borough, but the club ,us nine permanent male employees, exclusive of the professional or house steward, the former of whom employs one apprentice and the latter a staff of one man and four girls and his family. . All these employees live in Otanunu nnd, it might be inferred, spend the greater portion of their wages m the town. In addition the club employs j some 60 to 80 boys as caddies, whose remuneration averages 7s a caddj a , ' All material and stores required by the club and stewird are, when procurable, purchased locally, and approximately £1.400 a year is expended in the borough. ‘‘OF MATERIAL BENEFIT" This to some extent contradicts Mr Hall’s reported statement that as the borough mostly comprised workingclass people they were penalised because the golf course was in the borough. The club contends that it is of material benefit to Otahuhu. With regard to the reported sale of part of the property for £2OO an acre, this is denied by the club, which has sold no portion of its land since 1917. Mr. W. J._ Jordan’s reported statement that small fruitgrowers have had to pay as much as £8 a vear in rates infers that this condition has been brought about through the Auckland Golf Club having its course within the borough boundary. This is hardly correct, as a similar state of affairs has been found to exist wherever rates are levied on unimproved values.