DE-RATING

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 11, Issue 74, 1 September 1947, Page 5

DE-RATING

AN INTERESTING ADDRESS NEW SUBJECT FOR MEN * An interesting address on the subject of De-rating was given by Mr J. Neilsen to members of the Whakatane Chamber of Commerce last Thursday evening. Members from the Murupara Branch who were present had particular interest in the address.

The first instance of taxation, said Mr Neilson, was the ‘Poorlaw Tax’ passed in England 'in 1601. It was based on iAcome mainly and was designed to give relief to the aged and distressed. Hitherto this work hau been carried on almost entirely by the church. Though the tax had been amended from time to-time it was the basis of all subsequent taxes and eventually was fixed on land and properties. The speaker traversed the historical progress of the acts of taxation which were gradually extended to meet all kinds of social and communal demands. The various Parishes in their turn were empowered to levy the land and property tax in order to meet the cost of road construction and. upkeep. Thus the local rates were first imposed, but it was not until the eighteenth century that the main highways yere ‘segregated in 1875 by a special act, which threw the onus of main arterial roads and their upkeep on to the Government. The secondary and side roads however still remained a heavy burden on the land and with the tremendous increase in wheeled traffic at the opening of the nineteenth centra y the maintenance became a major question. Farmers claimed today that the roads were carrying such a burden of traffic that they were transformed into services resembling and comparable to the Railways and should therefore be nationally carried and maintained.

The farmer today in this country were forced to pay twice over inmany instances. He met all the taxation which was required of the individual for petrol, transport and tyres. He 7 carried this in connection with the transport of his cream and his fertiliser and gods and yet again he had to meet the tax on his land per acre.

Dealing with the Hospital tax, he said that this rate was particularly goading to farmers who were forced to pay it whether they made a living on the land or not. It was a first charge on the land although the farmer paid his Social Security levy and wages tax in the same manner as everyone else. Certainly the pegging of the rate last year had assisted but it had over the past ten years increased by leaps and bounds. In the Whakatane County for instance the following would give some indication of the steep rise in the rate since 1935: Year Rate in the £ 1935-39 0.297 d 1939-40 0.420 d 1942-43 0.769 d 1946-47 0.997 d

He spoke, he admitted from a farmers point of view, but felt that in some respects the businessman was linked in the matter of taxation which today was largely a levy on the initiative of the man who had created assets.

The chairman (Mr Rex Morpeth) said that businessmen appreciated the fact that farmers were taxed in practically every directioh and he trusted that the move for de-rating would receive the full attention and consideration it deserved.