"Not Equitable"

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 108, 24 May 1937, Page 6

"Not Equitable"

3YSTEM 0F TRAFFIC FEEC0LLECTI0N Costlier to Borough on a Smaller Revenue HASTINGS PROTEST A protest against tbe proposed change in the collection of motor drivers' licence fees has heen forwarded to the Minister of Transport, the Hon. R. Sejnple, hy th* Hastings Borough Council, Th* representations call for reconsidera^ tion of the proposals and point out that, in addition to the council '■ losing ahout £500 a year in revenuet the administration costs of th* horough traffic department -will he increased. it is also contended that the proposed method of dividlng the fees is not at all equitahle. The council 's protest is hased on the report of the Town Glerk, Mr- Noel Oi. Harding, who poiuted out that it wae proposed that in future drivers' iicences should be issued through the Post Ofiice. New drivers were 10 produce a certificate of competence supplied by an approved trafiic inspoctor. The licence fee would be 5/-, of which 6d would, go to the Post Office and the residue would he divided in th© proportion of 40 per cent. to the city'and borough councils of places with a population in excess of 600, ar* 60 per cent. to the Consolidated IHinu. "The council will continue to control dts .own trafficj and the inspeetor will still carry out all tests for new driver's Iicences. He will continue to earry out all work generally in the contol of traffic. In addition, he will now have to see that all drivers have warrants of fitness," said Mr. Harding. "In spite of this, however, the council is to lose about 60 per cent. of the fees it has been receiving in the past from drivers' Iicences. Roughly the position is that there will he a decreased revenue from this source of ahout £500, with an ducreased burdea caiised by additional work aUd the employment of extra staff. The present revenue is approximately £800, and ae far as can be estimated the ordinary expenses of the traffic department for the ensuing year will be about £600, though it is impossible to estimate. th# cost of the work duvplved by the warrants of fitness. "It appears to be quite imfair to suggest that in a borough like Hastings the revenue from the Iicences should be taken away, even in part," said Mr. Harding. "Last year there were 344 tests made of- new drivers, and each test takes about half an hour. The traffic inspeetor will also have to control the whole trafllc,, Sehling wdth ears outside as well as inside the borough. Additional regulatidns have been brouglit down ' With . regard "£o motor traffic signs, pedestrian crossings, control of bicycles and other matters, all of which add to his work. "Yet it is proposed that this shall be carried out, but that the Government shall retain the lion's share of the only direct revenue that can be set off against the expenses of traffic control," said Mr. Harding. "I feel that strong representations shall be made that further consideration should be given the matter, %nd that the council should suggest that the cost of the service to be carried out by the Government in traffic control work jn tho smaller borough and county areas, which are mainly on main highways, should come out of the Highways Fund and not be taken, from the fees from drivers' Iicences." Mr. Harding also contended that tfie proposed allocation of the fees on the basis of populations was manifestly » unfair, A far more equitable method would be to divide in proportion to the amount of drivers' licence fees received by each local authority, he said. He poiuted out that the number of car--owners in this distriet wasvcons\derably higher than in many districts in New Zealand, and the greatest density of motor traffic, not taking into account city areas, oecurred on the main highways in the Hastings-Napier distriet, followed by Auckland and then by Wellington. He suggested that it would be fairer to alloeate the remaining revenue in aecordance with the number of registered ears iu that distriet, and not in accordance with population. He sub■matted the following table, showing how Hastifigs would compare with other towns and cities in the proposed ailocations on population basis and also on the suggested fees proportional basis: —

"In the event of the Government adliering to its decision to retain 60 per cent of the drivers' licence fees, then I feel that strong representatione should he made to change the proposed method of allocation of the remaining 40 per cent," he said in conclusion.

Fees. Population. Hastings (Index) . 1.00 1,00 Auckland (City) . . 5.23 8.00 Palmerston North . 1.32 1.74 Invercargill ....... 1.09 1.70 Timaru . .j. .90 1.36 Gishorne ......... .82 1.07 Nelson 66 .88 Onehunga .48 .92 Devonport 42 .76