C—l 4

XXVI

Waihi Borough and gold duty. The Commissioners find that since the Waihi Borough was formed in 1902 it has received up till the 31st March last from the gold duty and goldfields revenue the large sum of £122,151; that for the year ended the 31st March, 1909, there was received from gold duty £20,775, from other sources of goldfields revenue £1,553, or, together, £22,328; also that for the corresponding period ending the 31st March, 1910, the similar receipts were £22,153, and that, in addition to these large sums, there were subsidies received from the Government in 1908-9 amounting to some £395. No doubt, in a mining town suddenly coming into existence, with a large population, it is very advantageous that the gold duty should be available for the purpose of providing for the facilities and for the decencies of life, which could not otherwise be provided for out of current rating-powers; but your Commission respectfully points out that it probably was never intended by Parliament, when passing the Gold Duty Act, that this source of income should render the inhabitants of a mining township more immune from taxation by municipal rates than the citizens of other townships throughout the Dominion. The Commissioners are satisfied that the existence of the annual income from the gold duty and goldfields revenue has led to municipal extravagance, and that the taxation by rates is far less than in other New Zealand towns of a similar size In 1908-9 the total rates collected from a population estimated as about 5,850 was only some £830 (which included £176 Government subsidy on the rates), being about 2s. lOd. per head of population per annum, or lis. per ratepayer. This contribution per head per annum may be compared with the revenue derived from taxation in the following towns of somewhat similar size. The information is deduced from the statistical tables issued by the Government relating to local governing bodies for 1908 (vide pages 713 to 718).

Waihi rentals and overdraft. It is also understood that the rentals charged for building-sections under the o-oldfields laws are also much smaller than is the case in other parts of the Dominion Notwithstanding the favourable conditions produced by such large annual receipts from the gold duty, &c, the officers of the municipality admitted liabilities in the way of loans and by way of an overdraft of some £3b,000 at the 31st March last/and urged that immediate extensions of municipal requirements would involve a further capital expenditure of some £91,500. It is no doubt, a very laudable desire that the Borough of Waihi should be a model township, equipped with every convenience and even luxury that will conduce to the happiness of the inhabitants, but the Commissioners are of opinion that the time has now been reached when the borough should cease to be spoon-ted to

Name of Borough. Waihi Lyttelton Mount Eden Hokitika Thames Grey Lynn Blenheim Hamilton Westport Petone Parnell Oamaru Devonport New Plymouth Gisborne Timaru _ . .. Number of Population. Ratepav(>1>< . i 5,850 1.410 4,150 635 8,700 2,409 2,100 625 3,75.) 920 7,000 L356 3,351 751 2,600 650 4,000 1,200 7,20.) 1,026 5,600 674 6,000 1,250 6,300 1,103 5,200 800 7,000 1.2(H) 7,600 1,450 Revenue Amount of Amount of received from Rates per Head Rates per RateRates, of Population. payer. £ £ s. d. £ s. d. 830 0 2 10 0 11 9 2,195 0 10 7 3 9 1 5,855 o 13 6 2 8 8 1,562 i) II 10 2 10 0 2,919 o 15 7 3 3 5 5.996 0 17 2 1 8 5 3,235 0 19 3 16 3 2,749 112 "> 0 0 1,943 14 8 12 4 8,902 1 4 li 8 13 7 6,974 1 4 10 10 6 11 7,477 I I 11 5 19 7 8,565 17 2 7 15 3 9,491 1 16 6 11 17 4 13,560 1 18 9 11 6 0 15.789 2 I 6 10 17 9 £ s. d. 0 2 10 0 10 7 0 13 6 ii 11 10 0 15 7 0 17 2 0 19 3 1 1 2 I 4 8 1 4 9 1 4 10 I I 11 1 7 2 1 16 6 1 18 I) 2 1 6 £ s. d. Oil 9 3 9 1 2 8 8 2 10 0 3 3 5 1 8 5 4 6 3 5 0 o 4 2 4 8 13 7 10 (i 11 5 19 7 7 15 3 11 17 4 11 6 0 10 17 9 , __i I