TNAG-1415-FCO40-1896-Public-finance-in-Hong-Kong-1985 — Page 122

-

21.

Head 2 General Rates. Subhead 010. Hong Kong and Kowloon (including New Kowloon). Under Section 28 (2) of the Rating Ordinance the effective date of an interim valuation in respect of a newly constructed building is the first day of the month following the expiration of three months (for domestic tenements) or six months (for non-domestic tenements) from the date of issue of the occupation permit (or temporary occupation permit), or the first day of the month following the date of occupation, whichever is the earlier. A recent audit inspection at the Rating and Valuation Department revealed four cases where the effective date of interim valuations was incorrectly stated on the interim certificates and as a result periods ranging from one to eight months were not rated. Under Section 29(1) of the Rating Ordinance no adjustment can now be made to correct the effective dates and I estimate that the errors have resulted in a loss to the revenue of $314,000.

22.

The Commissioner of Rating and Valuation has informed me that in three cases the loss of rates revenue was due to his staff overlooking the temporary occupation permits at a time when they were busily engaged in a revaluation exercise and in the fourth case, to a valuation error. The Commissioner has also informed me that the control procedures for monitoring interim work which were temporarily suspended during the 1984-85 revaluation exercise have now been restored and that departmental standing technical instructions require the Principal Valuers, or their deputies, to carry out half-yearly checks on interim control sheets to ensure that no oversight occurs. He has also agreed to my suggestion that circulars should be issued to remind the staff concerned of the need to process interim valuations of new buildings expeditiously and has stated that he will request his valuers to check for loopholes in the existing procedures.

Head 5

-

23.

Fines, Forfeitures and Penalties. Subheads 030 and 040. Fixed penalty system (Traffic Contraventions and Criminal Proceedings). The arrears as at 31 March 1985 which still remained outstanding at 30 June 1985 including the associated court costs stood at $93 million. The figure of $93 million involved 532,000 outstanding debts of which $60 million related to the period prior to April 1984.