WHO SHOULD PAY?

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 272, 16 November 1929, Page 12

WHO SHOULD PAY?

"Possibility of Self-interest."

HARBOUR BRIDGE'S COST. PROPERTIES BENEFITED. VIEWS OF LAND VALUES LEAGUE. The views of the New Zealand Land Values League on the question of the proposed Waitemata Harbour Bridge are expressed in a report forwarded to the commission. "The matter is of the utmost importance to the citizens of Auckland and surrounding districts," states the report, "and it is imperative that the work, when it comes to be undertaken, should be financed on sound business lines. "There is 110 gainsaying the fact that a bridge would be a great convenience to the people of the province living on both sides of the harboui 1 who may desire to cross by vehicle on business .or pleasure. On this there would be general agreement, but it may be pointed out that Sydney had over i,000,000 of a population beforo it was decided to bridge the harbour. This gigantic work has already been under construction for some years, and it will require another two years or more to complete. The original estimate of the cost was greatly exceeded when a tender was let for £4,217,721. The tenderers very naturally protected themselves by providing that any material change in labour conditions and wages should be added to the contract price. The latest estimates indicate that the cost will be in tho peighbourhood of £6,000,000. In such an undertaking definite costs are difficult to forecast in advance because tho contractors have to be indemnified against losses due to industrial dis-' putes. "How Shall It Be Financed?" "In Auckland, with a population of a little over 200,000, the issue of whether a, bridge is at present warranted requires careful consideration. Its location should have the approval of a special .planning conference. Assuming that the need for a bridge has been established, and the site and style agreed upon, the question naturally arises: 'How shall it be # financed?' "The estimated cost of building a bridge has varied from £750,000 to £1,500,000, and its supporters have mostly adopted the smaller amount. If we are to judge by the experience of the Dominion and other countries in an undertaking of this size the tenders will probably greatly exceed the estimate. "With a valuation of the land now based on recent sales and a revaluation after the bridge is built, the accretion to the land values benefited can be easily ascertained by competent Valuers. To permit the land owners to go scot free and to levy .a'toll, .would be a grave injustice to many of the users who would really pay twice over, first when traversing the bridge and again when buying land enhanced in value or in higher ground rents for shops and houses. Example of Sydney. "The most equitable plan would be to kdopt the lines Sydney has gone on. There the contract price for the bridge was £4,217,721, and the approaches were estimated to' cost £1,275,000. As a double track for trains is provided for, the railway commissioners will be debited with two-thirds of the cost, and one-third paid by a levy at the rate 01 one half-penny in the pound of the unimproved capital value of land in the ;city of Sydney, of the.five municipalities and three shire 3 of counties 011.the North Shore. The special levy in these areas in the last four during the construction of the bridge lias already produced a large portion of the amount to be found by the local bodies, and in spite of that,' land values have greatly increased. 'Unless we adopt this plan cither by a specific rate levied on a special rating area, or finance the undertaking by national taxation through a land values tax, a grave injustice'will be done and sound principles violated.

"While the Bridge Association may contain a majority of disinterested people, there is a possibility that some others in the background may be pushing the scheme for reasons of self-inter-est. When it is definitely decided to go ahead with the bridge there will ensue an orgy of spallation in land around the harbour and up towards Whangarei, and owners of land will reap a rich harvest. We doubt whether any Government or local body will be able to resist being stampeded into bearing a portion of any deficit resulting from underestimation of cost.