Tuapeka Times AND GOLDFIELDS REPORTER AND ADVERTISER. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1874. "MEASURES, NOT MEN."

Tuapeka Times, Volume VII, Issue 411, 25 November 1874, Page 2

Tuapeka Times AND GOLDFIELDS REPORTER AND ADVERTISER. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1874. "MEASURES, NOT MEN."

The method of assessment for Municipal rates for the Town of Lawrence stands in need of revision. As at present pursued, it seems somoivhat lax — so much so, that we hesitate to a;»ply the term " method "in the case. There ought to bo some rule fur tho valuation, and wo know of cases where it would be impossible to discover what tho rule is. Four adjoining sections — e.g., in block XLVII. — were rated as follows :—7: — 7 and 8, at £5 per acre ; 9, at £2 per ac£e ; and £10 3 at £3 per acre ; and we were told of an acre enclosed as a paddock rated at £10, on which a rental was paid of £2. Could we go over ths list as a whole, we Lave no doubt that other anomalies could, bo discovered, and. we therefore would like to know on what principle sucli distinctions are made. This is a matter of importance tn the community. It ia not always convenient for a man for the sake of a few shillings to spend a whole day in an appeal case, and rather than do it, the wrong is put up with, from year to year. There ia another thing in tho rating to which we would call attention. House property is rated at tho full extent of its value in all the cases we know of — nay, in some cases, above the actual rental received. The Ordinance requires that tlio rate be on the annual value ; but we submit that the annual value is the rental less a certain sum for repairs. In England, it is the rule to observe this principle in rating, as we can attest from personal- experience, and we submit it ought to be so here. It is not just to a man to rate him on what he does not in ordinary circumstances receive. Supposing a property stands without a tenant at all for a considerable portion of the year, it is hard to have to pay rates upon it ; much more so if he has laid out a considerable sum for repairs. Extraordinary alterations aud repairs cannot well be included in this ground of abatement, but a certain sum, which may ba considered the average amount for a year's repairs, ought in all fairness to be deducted from the year's rental. It has been customary, also, to allow for a fancy value — i. c. , not what the property fetches now, but what it niay be STipposed to fetch in years to come* In Btrictuesa. this does not come under the "annual value " of the property, aud therefore ought not to enter as a principle into the assessment. The assessment may be advanced when the property actually becomes more valuable, but it is like extracting "Bunbeams out of cucuuihera" to rate in anticipation of thia " annual value." We fail to see anything in the Ordinance that warrants the Valuer to assess the rate by the value of the property as a supposed speculation. With that we believe he has nothing to do. Further, no rate ought to be expected to be paid without notice, aud it is to be hoped that for the future notices will be duly served on the assessed.