I’m surprised how little debate there is in Australia about the archaic practices of local government taxation.
Hopefully the new Howard Government will tackle tax reform in a serious manner, as people like our local MP Sophie Panopoulos have been urging.
If this does occur, I would like to see them work with the states to put municipal taxes on the table as well.
Charging people a yearly sum based on the value of their property is unfair and selective. It’s also subject to large fluctuations as values change.
An argument in favor of the GST was that all people use services and should contribute towards their cost, not just people on wages.
The same argument applies to council rates. I own a property (with assistance from the National Bank) and pay $1322 a year to Alpine Shire. The ony direct service I receive in return is rubbish collection.
Sure, I should contribute to the maintenance of parks and gardens, the salary of the health inspector and local road improvements, but so should people who rent houses and so should visitors.
The solution, in my view, is for rates to be abolished and the GST increased by 2-3 percent or whatever it takes to raise an equivalent amount across the whole of Australia.
About half the total tax pool should be paid to councils on the basis of population and the balance split according to the existing Grants Commission formula, which takes into account factors like isolation, tourism, etc.
