ROADING COSTS

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 287, 31 August 1931, Page 5

ROADING COSTS

Expenditure Allocation MOTORISTS’ SHARE According to the annual report of the Transport Department, presented to Parliament,; approximately 20 per cent, of the annual expenditure on roads is met from special motor taxation. “It is true,” states the report, “that roads yield certain advantages beyond those attached to the transportation of commodities over them. It is for this reason mainly that the real cost of each transportation service is not paid directly in respect of each such service. Apart from the vehicle costs, which, in the long run, are met by the recipient of the service, and which insofar as they represent special motor taxation constitute a proportion of the road' costs, the remaining road expenditure is drawn from the, general taxpayer, and the local ratepayer. During the .year ended March . 31, 1930, more than £8,000,000 was expended in connection with roads, streets, and bridges, the source of the moneys being as follows:— Amount Percentage £ of total. General taxpayer . . 1,146,618 13.18. Local ratepayer .. 3,130,172 35.96 Special motor taxation 1,866,647 21.47 Loan 2,557,638 29.39 • I £8,107,075 “As indicated by the foregoing figures, approximately only 20 per cent, of the annual expenditure on roads is met from special motor taxation, and therefore incorporated in the direct costs' of road transport. The remaining portion of the total bill—excluding, of course, loan moneys—amounting to just over £4,000,000, is found out of either general or local taxation. “Although there, is little doubt that direct transport charges do hot lose their identity as such; the position is not quite as clear in respect of the moneys found per medium of the general and local taxation channels. The association between the operation of transport facilities and-the burden of taxation (general" and local) is not always recognised, although they are in fact cause and effect. This diversification or spreading of road costs has had the effect of obscuring the full real costs, with the result that many road-controlling authorities in New Zealand did-not realise the savings to be made in ultimate transport costs by a good scheme of restrictions on the gross loads, allowed to be carried over the roads.” ■' ...