NRS-17996 | Valuation and Rate Books [Dumaresq Shire Council]

The purpose of this series was to record details of the summary of valuation and rates of the Dumaresq Shire Council to show all amounts payable and paid during the first and second half a year. Each year each local council was required to set the level of, and collect rates in respect of all rateable properties within the shire district. These Rates and Valuation Books were initially created under s 53 - 68 of the Local Government (Shires) Act 1905, Regulations. (1) These sections specified the rules how the books should be entered and responsibilities of the council’s clerk for this process. For each rateable property a record was created which generally identified the property and person rated and included details of the annual value of the property, the amounts due, amounts paid, arrears and when rates were abandoned. A complete rate may comprise two parts; a Rate book and a Valuation book. The Valuation books generally identified the properties and persons rated and the Rates book comprised the accounting details. In this case the books were maintained together and have been registered as one series. The early part of this series from 1906 record the rates with an assessment number, amount payable, amount paid, and rates abandoned. The valuation part of the record details the owner/occupier, the Situation and area or Dimensions of the Land, and the Valuation of the Land (Unimproved Value, Improved Value, Assessed Annual Value). The formatting of this information changed over the years. The 1955 Valuation Sheets are colour-coded for the three different Ridings. These sheets provide the following information: Valuation no., County, Parish, Owner (Name, Occupation, Address), Ratepaying Lessee, Portion nos, Tenure, Acres, Roods, Perches, Crown Lease Rentals, Calculations and Alterations for each year 1956-1961, Year for Rating, Valuations Unimproved Capital Value, Valuer, Date. In 1961 the same information is formatted as a Valuation Card, again colour-coded for the three different Ridings. The following information was recorded: Owner of Ratepaying Lessee, Occupation, Address, County and Parish, Assessment Number, Nature of Tenure, Portion No., Freehold, Conditional Purchase, Leasehold, Road Permits, Transfer Ref, Unimproved Capital Value (1960-1965) In 1962, another change in formatting Owners Name, Occupation, Address Infm, Date, Price, County, Parish, Village, Street, Date values take effect in valuation book, Tenure, Portion, Section, Lot, Area (measured in acres, roods and perches), Values as Assessed (Unimproved, Improved, Assessed Annual, Unimproved Capital Value fixed after appeal or objection), Valuers Initials. From 1968, the records are the Valuation Lists furnished by the Valuer-General, NSW which are computer-generated print-outs. These provide the following information: Valuation Number, Owners Name and Address, Owner Code (referring to type – owner, lessor, etc), Description of Land and Improvements (includes property size in acres), Valuation (Unimproved Value, Improved Value, Annual Assessed Capital Value) and Date of Valuation. Endnote(1) NSW Government Gazette No. 262, p. 6446-6447Custody History These files were in the custody of Dumaresq Shire Council until 1995 when they were transferred to the Regional Archives.