Maurice Williamson: Ludicrous for rates to pay for roading

COMMENT

Ever thought it would be a good idea for your electricity bill to be based on the value of your home? What about the value of your property being used to work out how much you pay for your telephone calls?

How would you feel if Air New Zealand charged you an airfare based on your property value rather than the destination or class of ticket?

If these suggestions seem ludicrous - and they should - why are we still prepared to allow the value of our properties to be used to work out how much we should as individuals pay for using the roads, and how much we should as individuals be subsidising public transport?

Some of the revenue for roading comes from fuel tax so it is a slightly more reasonable proxy for our road use. But even then we pay the same to use an Auckland motorway at 8:30am on a Monday as we do for using a country road on a Sunday afternoon.

There are a number of appalling examples of people being rated out of the property they have lived in for years. Take Mr and Mrs Jones, an elderly couple who own a small car and use it sparingly to visit the local supermarket, their GP and the local bowling club.

Their neighbours are the Smith family, made up of mum, dad and two teenagers. The Smiths don't have such a great sea view as the Joneses, so have a substantially lower property value. Although they own four cars and use them all daily, because of their property value the Smiths pay far less in rates and, therefore, far less towards the costs of roading than the Joneses.

A number of farmers are being slugged hefty rates bills for the roads, while commercial users, such as bus operators, do not pay anywhere near the real cost of their usage. And why are schools and sports clubs being dragged into this mess? Their members will have paid through their residential rates.

The answer is simple: it has just grown that way for years and no one in authority seems to want to change it. Surely the vast bulk of people believes that the costs of using any service should be directly linked to usage. If I use twice as much electricity as my neighbour, my power bill will be double his, irrespective of whose place is swankier.

The Auckland Regional Council rates debacle has again highlighted this conundrum, and this time it won't go away. The ARC is seeking a massive 34 per cent increase at a time local government is starting to hit the wall in terms of ratepayer preparedness, or even ability, to pay.

You simply cannot keep pulling the revenue lever and expect plain sailing. Especially when most ratepayers do not believe there will be any real reduction in the level of road congestion during this or any year in the foreseeable future.

The public have not been given any certainty that the ARC will wisely spend the huge increase in revenue it is seeking. It is for much-needed public transport, we are told. Many who will not ever use or have access to public transport feel miffed at funding it for others.

We have also heard that it will dramatically reduce traffic jams and hence reduce the $1 billion being lost each year through congestion. That's seductive rhetoric but with little substance to back it.

Where is the evidence that spending this money will alter behaviour and encourage more use of public transport? The international evidence is to the contrary. Many cities have squandered fortunes upgrading their public transport only to find the car remains the mode of choice for most.

If congestion is as bad as we are told, and public transport such a great alternative, why aren't people just moving that way of their own volition? Modern lifestyles mean people are wedded firmly to the car. Although there could be a substantial growth in the use of public transport, most will still want the car's liberty and convenience.

During election campaigns I often attended public meetings where the Greens would demand that the Government stop building roads and pour money into alternatives. I used to finish the meetings by asking, "how many of you came to this meeting tonight using public transport?"

Not surprisingly, rarely had any of them done so: "We have to go to another meeting", "I don't live near a bus route". The excuses were legion. What they were really saying was it is "them" who should be using public transport, not "me". The trouble is that we're all "mes" and there are no "thems".

The solution is to stop using rates as a revenue-raising instrument for roading or public transport subsidies. Those who use them should pay for roads, buses and ferries.

A rapid and almost immediate solution to Auckland's congestion would be to complete the motorway network - and fast. The Mangere motorway neither joins the Southern at Manukau City nor the Northwestern at Carrington. It stops suddenly for no reason, with the resultant traffic clots.

Who should pay for this huge programme of capital works? As with any business that does not have the cash but wants to expand to increase production, the money should be borrowed. The revenue stream from the new infrastructure would easily form the basis for repayment. There would be no leap of faith required. Let the private sector build what is required using its own money.

An alternative would be that instead of investing money from the Cullen superannuation fund in risky international markets, it be invested in infrastructure with a guaranteed level of return.

Both options would mean tolling some of the new infrastructure. Tolling is inevitable even though it is politically difficult to sell. The results would speak for themselves. People would know they were going to be charged for their use of a service.

Comparable jurisdictions such as Victoria and New South Wales would never have come close to delivering their transport solutions without toll roads. Even left-wing governments have relied on tolling to develop infrastructure.

Roads and transport must be managed in the same way as any other publicly consumed product. The time for socialising the costs by socking people on the value of their homes has long since gone.

* Maurice Williamson, the MP for Pakuranga, was the Minister of Transport and Local Government in the previous National Government.

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