On Mon, 19 Jun 2006 18:00:19 +0100, Grimly Curmudgeon wrote
(in article ):

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember "Doctor Drivel"
saying something like:

The reason they could charge businesses, was that business grew (many
companies emerged) as people could borrow on the value of their land (now
redistributed). The business that expanded because of land reform, shifted
the charge to the businesses not the householders. Works a treat.

Utter mince. When the domestic rates were abolished the Irish economy
was in a parlous state - it was purely a vote-getting move.

I believe there is an extra charge in Dublin for services - there has to be
to pick up all the litter they are so fond of liberally distributing. The
last time I went to Dublin they were having a festival of litter.

There's an extra charge everywhere for domestic refuse collection, but
it's not imposed by the Council - you pay it to a private contractor.

The upside, as far as I'm concerned is that I'm paying for public
services I actually use through motor tax (the motor tax is paid to the
Council and goes into the general services pot) but I'm not paying
through the nose for services I don't use.

I foresee a problem with this though; when the oil runs out and
individual car ownership decreases, the tax take will diminish.


Big assumption.

People will not want to go for public transport because it is inconvenient
and pretty disgusting.

It is far more likely that new forms of fuel and the means to use them will
emerge and/or people will pay more for independence. That in turn will feed
back into the economy creating market demand for the means to do this.