99
19. The weight of this burden may be better appreciated after consideration of the following figures, relating to a large property in Kowloon, which were put in as evidence before us by an entirely trustworthy witness:
Kowloon Marine Lot No. 49 R. P., etc.
Canton Road, 45 houses (4 floors)
Waiching Street, 80 houses (4 floors)
Total
Position as at 30th September, 1934.
180 flats.
320 19
500 >>
Vacancies
136 flats.
Gross rent
$70,300.00
Less disbursements:
Government Rates
$13,260.00
Excess Water Charges
10,090.00
Water Meters Rent
937.50
Insurance
Repairs
Wages, etc.
Net Revenue
2,921.25
2,630.00
2,150.00
31,988.75
$38,311.25
Book Value
$1,209,714.98
i.e., showing a Return of 4.2% per annum WITHOUT DEPRECIATION.
20. Even allowing for the fact that this is a large property in a heavily crowded district in Kowloon, where water restrictions do not apply, it is startling to find that whereas the total Government rates amount to $13,260.00, excess water charges for the same period come to $10,090.00. It is even more startling when we con- sider that had all flats in this property been occupied and the water consumption proportionately increased, the excess water charges for this period would have amounted approximately to $13,733.00, which is more than the amount charged for rates at 17% of the rateable value.
CC
21. A further defect in our present system is to be found at the other end of the scale, mainly in connection with large commercial properties. These properties are heavily rated and in consequence their "free" or as we would prefer to call it their valuation allowance is correspondingly large while actual consumption is relatively very small. In the case of one expensive property which is used partially for commercial and partially for residential purposes, the "valuation allowance is nearly 18,000,000 gallons per annum, while the annual consumption is less than 2,000,000 gallons. The owners of this property, therefore, are paying annually for 16,000,000 gallons of water which they do not consume, while from the opposite point of view the valuation allowance is so large that there is no economic pressure to reduce wastage: This is by no means an extreme case nor do these properties represent a small percentage of the Colony's total. In 1933 it was estimated that 38% of metered properties did not exceed their "valuation" allowance and it follows therefore that the excess water revenue of $1,521,739.50 for that year was obtained from the remaining 62%.
K
F
22. It is difficult in the face of this evidence to regard our present system of water charges, based on a "valuation" supply plus "extras", as being either equit- able in incidence or efficacious in prevention of waste. On the other hand it should
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