HOSPITAL DISTRICTS.

Taranaki Daily News, 12 August 1920, Page 6

HOSPITAL DISTRICTS.

.QUESTION OF REVALUATION. NO CHANGE IN PRESENT SYSTEM. (By Wire.—Parliamentary Reporter.) Wellington, Last Night. Mr. S. G. Smith (Taranaki) asked the Minister in charge ot . the Valuation Department, whether he would arfange to have the lands comprised in each hospital district revalued simultaneously, and failing which, that the revaluation of lands of any one local body should not be used until the whole of the revaluations of that hospital district were available.

Mr. Massey replied; As hospital districts are comprised of groups of counties, inclusive of the boroughs and town districts 1 geographically situated therein, the revaluation of the lands in each hospital district simultaneously would involve the periodical revaluation of all lands in the Dominion in year, a task that could not he accomplished. Revaluation is always proceeding, and the counties and boroughs selected for immediate revaluation are those where the movements in land values are marked, irrespective of whether such counties or boroughs are within or without a hospital district. It takes about five years to make a careful inspection and revaluation of all lands in the counties and the boroughs of the Dominion, and during that period the position of each having changed with the other in orderly succession, all are practically on terms of equality.

POSITION IN TARANAKI. EGMONT COUNCIL'S DISCUSSION. Replying to the resolution passed at a conference of delegates from the contributing local authorities of the Taranaki hospital district, urging that the lands comprised in each hospital district be revalued simultaneously, the Valuer General stated in a letter to the Egmor.t County Council on Tuesday that equality of values in hospital districts could not be allowed, even if the numerical strength of the field staff of the Department were greatly increased, as hospital districts comprised several counties and boroughs that were not last revalued.in the same year.

The aim of the Department (continued the letter) was to establish and maintain, as far as was practicable, relative uniformity of values, not only between counties and boroughs in hospital districts, but between all the counties and boroughs in the Dominion. The practice was to select for revaluation each year the counties and boroughs which were most in need of revaluation, or respective of consideration relating to the requirements of hospital districts. The resolution really implied that lands comprised in hospital districts throughout the Dominion should be revalued in the same year, unless their case was regarded as an exceptional one. ' It, however, had no feature justifying special •consideration; and by making all the revaluations in the same year would be a task impossible of accomplishment. The work had to be done by degrees, and as a period of about five years elapses between one general revision of a dis ; trict and the next, all districts were practically on the same footing, the position of each district having changed with the other in orderly succession during the quinquennium, all were practically on terms of equality. Arrangements have been made for the revaluation of the Borough of New Plymouth and Clifton County. Inglewood County is now being revised, and probably Taranaki and Egmont Counties will be revised next year. The chairman said jjiat the only remedy was to have a high rate on a low valuation. He favored rating on tha unimproved value, especially int view of the way that the cost of improvements had gone up. Cr. Green said that the unimproved value varied and if they adopted rating on unimproved value it would go up. The chairman pointed out that they could always go to the assessment court if dissatisfied with their valuation. He admitted that they did not always get satisfaction there. ~ Cr. Green said that the Government taxed on the unimproved value, and the Council should see that this was kept down as much as possible. The chairman said that, they would sec better after the Taraijaki County valuation came out, because this would be on the unimproved. It would also, he said, be interesting to know how much t'lie unimproved valuation at Hawera and Waimate had increased this valuation.