local BODY TAXATION.

Waikato Times, Volume 105, Issue 17687, 16 April 1929, Page 9

local BODY TAXATION.

(To the Editor.) Sir, —The growth of local body indebtedness In the Dominion is not as fully realised as it should be by ratepayers. The gross debt has now reached the very formidable figure of £64,000,000, the sum total having been nearly doubled in thß last six yearsThe ratio In proportion to population has increased in that period from £25 6s 7d to £44 10s 4d and the annual loan charge from £1 7s 7d to £2 16s 4d per head Jn 1900 local body rates were the modest sum of £714,00. The total for 1926-27, however, had reached the amazing sum of £5,888,000, .equivalent to no less than £4 3s per head. If we take the amount raised In Hamilton by way of general, special and water rate for the year just closed we reach the respectable sum of approximately £70,000; this for a population of 15,000 works out at £4 13s 4d per head. Our loan indebtedness has now reached the huge sum of over £780,000, which represents a liability of over £SO for every man, woman and child In the borough. Surely a staggering liability! It Is officially stated that from 1922 to 1927 national taxation declined by 9s 2d per head, while local body taxation has increased by 19s 10d. In other words, for every pound of taxes collected by the Government in 1922 the local authorities levied 4s lid; In 1927 local body taxation had reached the equivalent of 6s 8d for every pound required by the Government. It is facts Mike these which make cautious ratepayers pause, and ask the question is it not time to oall a halt, especially when such schemes as £14,000 for tepid baths are so unconcernedly advocated. Side by side with the surprising growth of local body expenditure, we find that whereas the population of the Dominion has In recent years Increased by more than £200,000 the number of people working on the land has Increased by but 6000. Little wonder that we have an acute unemployment problem, and that the producer is crying out about unfair economic burdens. —I am, etc., , JAS. E. TIDD. Hamilton, April 15.