RATES IN LONDON.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19230, 20 January 1926, Page 7

RATES IN LONDON.

Sir,— Evidently my speech at the Rotary Club on Monday dealing with rates in London appears to have attracted a good deal of attention in local circles. In giving the information about Lonoon rates, I had no intention of making comparisons between the Empire city and Auckland, and comparisons are practically impossible, the conditions being totalW different. The local rates are, as I stated, from 10s to 24s in the £, with an average of perhaps about 13s to 14s. The Auckland rates I am told are about 4s in thft £, but tho question arises whether they are on the same basis and whether they includo • the sarno items of expendituro. In the first place, I understand that rental values are much higher in Auckland than in London, and if this is so ftomo of the advantages of tho lower rates hero may disappear. Again, tho cost of education is, I think, a national charge m New Zealand, whereas 50 per cent of tho cost of education in England falls upon the local ratepayers, and this alone _ represents a rate oi' several shillings m tho £ Further, there is money required by tho Boards of Guardians for the relief of the necessitous poor, and these form a heavy charge on tho local rates, varying according to conditions of the varying districts. lam anxious that Aucklanders should not mako wrong comparison of tho rates between two cities, and in making the statement I had no idea that it would raise anv controversy. Taken altogether there are many charges which fall on tho local rates in London which do not apply in Auckland. We must clearly make tho difference between what is local taxation raised by means of rates on property and national taxation levied by the _ general revenues of a country. D. Hazel.