RATES AND ROADS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 141, 17 June 1930, Page 6

RATES AND ROADS.

A FARMER'S EXPERIENCE.

(To the Editor.)

. . TI " S wiU give S' OU an sdea what the "motor i are costl »g the settlers in rates for rnJ repairs. About nine years ago a friend, j" for a small farm within twenty-five milea 0 f Auckland and unable to find exactly what 1, wanted, bought one, far larger than he required The price nine years ago was high, over seventy pounds an acre for a grass farm Thm„ later he sold off three-quarters of thp retaining the house and the remlinhit T' quarter. Land was falling in value andiS T to get his money back lie had to sell tZ 1 * parts of the fara last year he h"d* more rates on one-fourth of the original farm than he paid nine years ago on the' wlm plaee. Nevertheless the land had depreSS wT n u th !^ ty and iort y P er cent in vahe and the buildings built in the boom period had also gone down m value. Even the Gove ?, ment valuer had decreased the capital va I of the place at the last valuation. The countv council members stated that the increased rat/ were simply due to the great wear on the roads caused by motor traffic; and although material and machinery had fallen considerably in cot in ten years and wages had not been increased they had to find about fifty per cent in material and labour to keep the roads in anv thing like decent order. I see that in England where motorists are much more heavily taxed than here, the Government has had to find an enormous sum to make up fbr wear and tear to the roads over and above the rates. M