OPPOSITION TO EXEMPTION

Taranaki Daily News, 2 August 1932, Page 7

OPPOSITION TO EXEMPTION

FARMERS AND HEAVY LORRY TAX. OPINION OF BOROUGH COUNCIL. Exemption from heavy traffic fees should not be granted farmers’ motor vehicles used solely for the transport of the produce and supplies of individual farmers. Such is the opinion of the New Plymouth Borough Council, which was asked by the Commissioner of Transport to comment on representations made to him.

The council has set down the following reasons for its conclusions: That from the table showing the amounts paid by truck operators according to occupations it appears that the revenue of local bodies for road maintenance purposes may be reduced by £30,000 per annum, and this would mean that either rates would have to be increased at the expense of all the ratepayers to make good this amount or the expenditure on road maintenance would have to be reduced by £30,000 per annum which in view of the limited amount available to local bodies for road maintenance is most undesirable and almost impracticable. •That if farmers receive exemption on account of small annual road mileage of their trucks numerous other operators, such as market gardeners and fruit growers, will also claim exemption for tlie same reason, and it appears that once this fee is based on the road usage instead of on a flat schedule the revenue from this taxation will be seriously reduced. That if farmers receive exemption on the ground that costs to the primary producer must be reduced, a precedent will be created that may well lead to the exemption of most of the lorries now liable to the payment of heavy traffic fees. , In addition, it was decided to inform the commissioner that if, notwithstanding the reasons given, the Government decided to grant exemption to farmers’ lorries provision in the legislation should be made whereby the farmer should be required still to take out his license, although without payment of a fee and that the local body issuing the license should be required to include in its return of heavy traffic fees a statement of the amount that would, but for the exemption, be paid for the farmers lorries, and that this amount should be taken into account in apportioning the fees in a main highways district amongst the local bodies concerned.