TARIKI POWER SCHEME

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 20 June 1928, Page 5

TARIKI POWER SCHEME

RATEPAYERS’ CRITICISM. INVEvSTi.GATION REQUESTED. DEPUTATION TO MINISTER. 1* urthior criticism of the adminhstra-t-iou of the Taranaki Electric Tower thxtrd was voiced at Stratford yesterday, when a deputation front the Ratepayers’ Protection Association waited on the Minister of Public Works (the •doa. K. y. Williams; with requests that an investigation into the affairs ol the board be undertaken by the department. The deputation suggested that investigation be made (a) covering overhead' and ad mi ni str atii vie charges a* wo ,1 a,s other expenditure by the board ; (b) tiiat the amount of power available at the board’** head works be determined by departmental officers; (c) that the full financial position of tins board be disclosed; and (d) that an examination be taken of the board’s district to dotsmine whether it was likely that a sufficient demand would exist to return a revenue commensurate with the expenditure. •Opposition to the availability rate was* also voiced by the deputation, unci was endorsed by the Mayor of Eft ha m (Mr I. J. Bridger), who advanced the opinion that the Government would be 'quite justified in deleting the clause rnun the Power Boards Act. ter the position from the rate payers’ point of view find been fully explained, t.h?. Minister promised to go carefully into the matter. Ho also stated that the work ot ascertaining t lie available power at the head works had aready lieon commenced. He con-

cluded by saying: “If 1 or the Government can assist in tlie disposal of any surplus power from Tariki «o will do so. The matter, of course, is hedged with a certain amount of local preju- • and will be a subject for negotdatioiu but. if the power is there it should lu used, and there appears to be 'little use in other people contemplating. ,sinkug money into other schemes while power is going to waste from tins iource.” In respect of Mr Bridger’s iepresentations, ne also .promised to discuss with departmental officers the advisability of removing the clause that provided tor the levying of an availability rate from the Power Board Act. " ESTIMATES EXCEEDED Mr N. H. Aloss, chairman of the Ratepayers’ Protection Assoc,iatio, wan the chief speaker. He traversed tiie events leading up to the iurmation of the Power Board, and’ explained that whereas the original estimate was' £350,600, the board had already s]>ent £400,060 on its present scheme. Ratepayers eompiained that they were uriaoie to get any definite figures, but as far as could be ascertained the board’s estimated revenue was originally £OB,000. Actually, for the year 1920-27, tiie board only received £14,000 in revenue, while for the next year the revenue was £21,152, an increase or about £7OOO, one largely to the effect of toe availability rate of 2d in tiie £ on the capital value of tbe area reticulated.

On the other hand, said Air Aloss, the board’s expenditure amounted to £40,000 a 3-ear, so, to cover ad costs, it needed to be assured of a revenue oi between £40,000 and £45,000. Considering the population of the district and the area to he reticulated, the deputation was of opinion that the posation was hopeless, lor it- was too much to expect that the district oo.ud meet this huge required revenue without the necessity of a perpetual rate.

Dealing with the second request, Air Aloss said the amount of power available at. the headworks was the subjects of some dispute. On one hand they had tiie board claiming to be able to develop 4000 h.,p. at the present works, and, on the other, the engineer to the New Plymouth Borough Council publicly stating that the seneme was capable of producing only 1890 kilowatts. Rateasked that an authoritative statement of the position be made by the Public Works Department. Regarding the request that the financial position of the board be disclosed, Air. Aloss reviewed difficulties said to have been experienced in getting the board to disclose its position, and instanced tbe point that of the £IIO,OOO above the estimate already spent on the headworks the board liad only explained where £15,000 liad gone. Regarding the fourth point, Air. Moss said the board’s area was 286 square miles. It contained 17,000 people, who used only 391 milking machines worked by electricity. From this area and from this population the hoard hoped to derive £45,000 a year in revenue, yet in the Central Power Board district, which consisted of 752 square miles and .had 694 electrically driven milking machines, the actual revenue only amounted to £33,000. In 1926 a petition was presented to tbe House asking for an investigation into the affairs of tbe board. This request was approved, hut nothing was done. Turning to the matter of the availability rate, Air. Aloss pointed out that people outside the rateable area had had a vote on the original scheme, yet were not called upon to pay the rate. The Taranaki Power Board was the only body in New Zealand that had used such a rating system as a general principle. The availability rate was a departure from all recognised systems of rating, and its warranty was based on the question: Could the population within the rateable area hope to return a revenue capable of meeting the requirements of the board’s expenditure-

The Alinister: Then the hoard is not proposing to levy a general rate ? Air. Aloss: No. We say they should use both the general and, in some districts, the availability rate. One man I know spent over £IOOO in putting in a private hy-dre-electric plant. He has no use for the current from the hoard, but because he omitted to get a license he still has to pay £3O a rear in rates.

Afr. E. Walter, AI.P. : Quite a number of farmers in this district nse water-power pumps to drive their milking machines. They also have no nse for the power, and have to pa - the rate.

Air. Aloss: Yes. and most of these I f iitchinson pumps were installed before the Power Board was even thought

Mr. I. J. Bridger, Mayor of Eltham, spoke more particularly against the alleged inequality of the availability rate. He said the Eltham borough bad protested six months ago, and had interviewed the Minister. People who supported the scheme originally, he said, never voted for the imposition of an availability rate. .Mr. Bridgetdid not think anyone was desirous of evading a rate, hut he contended a general rate would lie much fairer. For instance, under the availability rate a man farming bO acres had to pay just as much as the owner of COO acres. Mr. Bridger thought the Government would be quite justified in deleting the availability rate clause from the Power Boards Act, especially in cases where an area, was doing its best. The Pith am borough, in fact, had taken 7/5 per cent more current than was originally estimated, yet it was subjected to the rate. Even old age pensioners had to pay, and every i day people were asking him if lie could not .do something to help them.— Abridged from News. 1