DE-RATING PROBLEM

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXV, Issue 3304, 16 May 1931, Page 3

DE-RATING PROBLEM

OPINION OF WELLINGTON PAPER. In a sub-leader on the derating problem, the Wellington Post of Saturday makes the following comment: “So that the burdens of the present time may be borne/it is necessary to adjust the load. Some people must be relieved of weight, and others must shoulder more. But this adjustment must be based on something more definite than the complaint of one class that it is carrying too much. There must be reasoned judgment. This is, in effect, the reply of the Main Highways Board to the request of Waitomo and other county

councils for suspension of highways contributions payable by county councils. The Highways Board states that its own financial position does not permit this. Moreover, such a change would be a complete departure from the basic principles on which the highways scheme is operated. If the Highways Board were to accept the council’s responsibility in one county the position throughout the country would have to be reviewed. There is, we believe, need for a complete review in which the interests of the boroughs as well as the counties will be considered. But such a review must not be a patchwork affair. The motor taxation imposed when the highways scheme was first established was comparatively light.

Now' it is much heavier. The added weight is justified by the change in road traffic. But this change in road traffic necessitates a change in control as well as an adjustment of liability. If local taxation is inequitable when traffic is national, local control is also out of date. We cannot adopt a system of derating (for that is really what the Waitomo Council sought) without transferring the power as well as the rate burden.”