LAND VALUATION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 8073, 2 April 1906, Page 2

LAND VALUATION.

iCHAT WITH HON. C. H. MILLS. Tke meeting called to discuss land valuations was well attended on Saturday night in tke Town Hall. Mr M. Fraser, Chairman of the Committee set up at the previous public meeting, occupied the chair, and read a letter from the Valuer-General, asking for more detailed information. He stated that the values of the Department were not based upon fictitious sale prices, and

that every care was taken to avoid inflated values. He would be ploased to receivo further information. Mr Fraser said that there seemed to be no other method adopted than by basing tke values on sales of adjoining or neighboring property. Mr Carter said what they had to do was to decide on wkat casos skould be placed before Hon. C H. Mills that evening. Other discussions would be useless.

On tho motion of Mr Newton King, was decided tkat tke letter be re-

ferred to tho committee for reply. The names of Messrs Newton King, S. Shaw and Fred Bellringo'r were

added to the Executive Committee. Mr Fraser said that as this meeting was due more to the kindness of the

Hon, Minister than to any public duty on his part, and as Mr Mills was tired and weary, after a trying time m the Whangamoinona district, he would ask members of the committee to be as brief as possible. Mr E. C. Hughes trusted tkat .those

who • spoke so strongly against the Department's valuation a few nights ago woull follow now in a similar strain. He was pleased to see some, members of the Government party were waking up. Hon. C. H. Mills was introduced by Mr E. M. Smith, M.H.R., and the meeting proceeded to place before lain some of the anomalies uf the system of valuing New Plymoutk properties. Mr Fraser, in kis opening remarks, said tkat tke New Plymoutk people were overtaxed in all directions, and, but that Taranaki was " the garden "of New Zealand," could never have sur-

vived. The speakers who followed wore Messrs J. Ward, W. Morcy sonr., J. Handy, and J. H. Parkor, who dwelt on their individual instances of overvaluation, and Mr Newton Kiug, who spoke on general lines. There was, ho said, a very general impression that the valuations this year were excessive. A couple of years ago there had been a local " land boom," pnl rates were struck on prices then available. The market, which fluctuated hero as elsewhore, was easier now, and, in the ordinary coursQ of things, values should have been reduced. This was

not s6. The Department might be compared to the Hussion, " who, when he got his foot on a piece of territory, never drew it back, but eventually went on a little further." It was not necessary to go into details,

but he pointed out that at present it was not possible to obtain a return of live por cent, on the capital values fixed by the Department. Hon. C. H' Mills said lie was very pleased to meet the Committee, and had listoned with interest to the cases cited. Tho speaker had, however,

doalt with matters of detail, which should be readily adjusted with tho local valuer, or if that were impossible, he would see that the Valuer-General visited New Plymouth himself in order to avoid the .expense of an Assessment Court. To clear the ground, he would read tho followiity extracts from the instructions sent to valuers The selling value must alone guide valuers in framing their estimates, both of capital and improved value, and a proper allowance must be made for all improvements in so far as these enhance the capital value, and are within the meaning of the words as defined by the Act," and again "valuers should discount very largely extreme prices being given for land, in any district m which there is anything approaching what is commonly termed a 'boom,' and koep below, rather than above, fair market values, not prices; iu all cases of doubt let the owners of the property beiug valued have the benefit thereof." The Government was anxious to arrivo at the true, honest, bedrock value of the colony, and not to imflale values. • He mentioned the remarkable fact that whilst settlers were always ready to growl about the light valuations on which they were rated, they considered them too long when they were dealing with the Advances to Settlers Office. Again, when the State desired to acquire a property, the owners always refused to sell at the Government valuations. Six estates had been purchased in tho Wellington district, com■prising 12,077 acres, Government valuation £54,394, prico paid £89,438; Canterbury fourteen estates, 84,881 acres, valuation £357,143, price paid £413,430; Auckland, seven estates 13259 acres, valuation £22,911, price £51,613; Hawkes' Bay, seven estates, 102,802 acres, valuation £407,877, price £518,476. In Taranaki two estates had been acquired: Tokaora, valued at £24,000, purchased at £36,616; and Spotswood, valuation £5273, price paid £15,300. (Laughter). At the suggestion of Mr Bellringer, the chairman asked the Minister as to the possibility of having a local representative on the Assessment Court. The reply was to the effect that this system could hardly be worked satisfactorily. There were two many local districts, with conflicting interests. The Department was quite ready lo adopt a now system, if it could be shown to be an improvemeat on the

present system. A hearty vote of thanks to the Minister and to the chair terminated the meeting.