Fuel increase insufficient for Roads Board

Press, 9 December 1976, Page 3

Fuel increase insufficient for Roads Board

Wellington reporter

I The rise in tiie price of petrol by lc a litre, i enacted by Parliament lon Tuesday, will only provide the National Roads Board with the extra S2OM in revenue promised by the Government out of the Consolidated Revenue Account some months ago. The board’s budget allocations for 1977-78 announced yesterday had already included the S2OM promised by the Government. It will now be transferred from one column in the income forecasts to anoher column. At the board’s meeting it was announced that even with the extra S2OM from increased motor spirit revenue, the estimated income of S24M would still be SI.BM less than its income for 1976-77.

Government appreciation of the board’s need for permanent sources of income rather than grants from the Consolidated Fund was welcomed, but the extra S2OM from the Ic-a-litre petrol increase was not enough to solve the board’s financial problems. Allocations for 1977-78, with 1976-77 income in parenthesis, was $60.5M ($60.585M) for State highways, $25.2M (525.44 M for counties, and $20.5M ($20.675M) for municipalities. This was a total expenditure in 1977-78 of 5106.2 M compared with 5106.7 M this year, but the revision of the administration charge by the Government from 5 per cent to 7.5 per cent, inflation effects on flood damage, and other fixed costs, would require 520.4 M or 16.4 per cent of the board’s income. The Assistant Director of Reading (Mr R. B. Fisher) said the board’s basic motor revenues continued to decrease because of a combination of national economic conditions and the wish by the Government to restrain fuel consumption. The board noted “with concern the inadequate forecast level of income for 197778 in view of its statutory obligation to provide and i maintain a reading system

adequate to meet the needs of the country. “In real terms, the funds available to the board are lower than at any time since 1960-61, and that was at a time before the board was committed to major urban construction,” Mr Fisher said. Members of the board reiterated the need for better funding methods, and the Government member of Parliament for Hamilton West (Mr M. J. Minogue) said the board was dominated bv inflation and the Auckland and Wellington motorways gobbling up money. A ruthless reappraisal of its construction programme was needed as work on the motorways was sustained at the expense of the rest of the country, he said. Mr J. N. L. Searle, an assistant commissione: of works, said removal of both wage and price freezes reasonably soon would raise reading costs further.