A PROPERTY TAX CONUNDRUM.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2153, 27 April 1886, Page 2

A PROPERTY TAX CONUNDRUM.

TO TUX KniTOlt. Sin,— Will you kindly allow a small spaco to express my wondering curiosity as to the grounds upon wJiich a Court of Re viewers of the property tax as~p«sm-nt* is snppinied to base its decihion under certain circumstances, with regan! to "ie objections which m.iy 1m raised bv » 1 md<>wner to the amount of tho valrm at \\ hich his property may have been assessed. I had lately th** misfortune to be what I connid»red overrated for n small f.irm in tho Kirikiriro.i district. Thtt is, my form had been valued at a sum beyond what I would take for it if I could «ell it. To thin I re«p3cfully drew the attention of the Couit of R,3view.>rs, and at tli<? same time asked them to lower my assessment to the amount which I named a« a price I would readily nccrpt for the ur>>perty. My objection was, howvver, ignored, and thn valuators' aise»sment sustained. I, of course, have no intention of suggesting that the talu ators intentionally overvalued my property, hut only that such valuation may be fallible. And, for the life of me, I cannot keep my limited intellect from regarding this decision of the reviewers as " one of those things which no fellow can understand," and wondering what does constitute the real value of one's property if not the sum at which <me is very willing to sell if occasion offers. Evidently our valnatnr* have another and higher standard of ttie intrinsic value of land, and our reviewers concur with them and consider my objection to their flattering opinion of my pro perty as frivolous and carping. Our friend, the celebrated "Bnnsby" is confidently reported to have remarked to " Captain Cuttle" as to a thing difficult to understand that "the meaning of this lies in the application of it," and I fear it is the only meaning to be realised by the suffering subject out of many of our robustly growing taxes in this muchly governed colony, and that this arbitrary working of the property tax i.s but a small example* of the general principle of interpreting Acts, usually considerably elastic, as liberally as possible for the revenue to b« derived therefrom by Government. The following is the text of the Government printed instructions for property owners sendin? in their returns:— "By section 8 of the Act of 1881 it is provided that propeity and all interested in property, "whether real or personal shall bo assessed at the full value of the same -if sold for cash at the date of which the statement relates." Surely this evidently means the marketable value. Trusting I have not trespassed too long upon your valuable space. — I am,' tit, < yours truly, Firzßov Fbaoooce. Hamilton, 26th April, 1886.