Uniform, Rates For Whangarei County To Be Considered

Northern Advocate, 15 November 1941, Page 8

Uniform, Rates For Whangarei County To Be Considered

ABOLITION OF RIDING ACCOUNTS AND THE ADOPTION OF UNIFORM RATING THROUGHOUT THE WHANGAREI COUNTY IS TO BE CONSIDERED BY THE COUNTY COUNCIL AT A SPECIAL MEETING TO BE HELD ON DECEMBER 12.

This decision was roaediod at the monthly mooting' of the council today when a report on the proposal, last considered and rejected by the council in 1936, was presented by the clerk (Mr. H. C. Hemphill). The report was circulated to councillors today to afford them opportunity of studying' the proposal before the question is discussed at the special meeting. Approximately 50 per cent of counties throughout the Dominion have abolished riding accounts and adopted uniform rating. Ridings..however are retained for the purpose of representation as required by law.

Present-Day Conditions ■ "In dealing with county administration the need for some adjustment more in keeping who present-day cendiuons makes it increasingly necessary that the problem so far as this county is concerned and involved should be given practical consideration,” stated the clerk m his report. “Our present methods of control and administration are in need of overhaul and icmodelling, and although propose's to abolish riding accounts and to adopt uniform rating throughout ihe count.> may be opposed by some ratepayers, the general demand 'for remodelling the general administration on a more equitable basis can no longer be ignored by those responsible for local government. One Rate Replaces 138 “Many counties —approximately SO per cent —throughout the Dominion have already abolished riding accounts and adopted uniform rating. In one particular county one gen-

eral rate over the whole county now takes the place of 10 separate riding rates and 128 special loan rates. In another county one general rate ov.er the whole county now takes the place of U 0 other rates. At the present time in this comity there are no fewer than 10 separate riding rates levied in addition to 31 special loan rates—a total of 41 different rates levied. “In ail cases where counties have abolished riding accounts and adopted uniform rating, they express entire satisfaction with the new methods. The arguments put forward in support of doing away with riding accounts in favour of uniform rating appear to be the same throughout the Dominion. “The declaration of State highways appears—and rightly so—to have been a very strong factor in most counties in bringing about the change.”

Arguments In Support Reasons ana arguments in support of the abolition of riding accounts and adoption of uniform rating, were given as follows: More mobile use of the financial ! resources of the county, j Concentration of expenditure where, under the present system the finan- | cial resources of a riding are inadej quate. Present-day traffic has so altered conditions that ratepayers as well as the travelling public make use of all roads. The financial advantages resulting from the highway system should be enjoyed by the ratepayers of the county as a whole and not, as at present. Limited in varying degrees to the advantage of some ridings and their particular ratepayers. The density of foreign and county traffic is greater in some ridings than in others, consequently costs such as maintenance should be borne by the j county as a whole. Minister’s Contention The financial relief accruing to some ridings as the direct result of the declaration of State highways. In this connection the Minister for Public Works in dealing generally with the position made the following I apt public statement: “It is obviously I unfair and unreasonable that because ■’ a riding contains a State highway or any other highway for that matter, it should be freed from contributing to the general expenditure of the county, or that other ridings not containing State or other highways should be deprived of monetary relief which results from the highway system. These anomalies will continue to exist j as long as county councils place ridings interests before those of the county as a whole.” Roads No Longer Restricted Further arguments were: Many districts and ridings were relieved from raising loans for roading purposes by reason of expenditure out of the national purse which was subsidised out of riding revenue. Roads put down out of loan moneys are no longer purely access roads restricted to local users, but are now made use of by the general travelling public in a far greater degree in many instances than the settlers who raised the loan and who, under present conditions are still required to meet the loan charges. Closer Co-operation Ratepayers who are not liable for the payment of loan interest charges or who enjoy far less rating liabilities, share equally the benefits accruing from most loan moneys expended. In this connection it might be pointed out that of the total road loans, £78,444 was expended on roads which are now highways and £24,865 on roads outside of the highway system. Under present-day conditions and the application of modern transport, there is need for closer co-operation. It seems to be entirely wrong where farmers produce generally off the same mark and market their produce on the same market that they should i be subject to differential rating. Saving in administrative costs. Statutory Provisions Under the Counties Amendment Act, 1931, statutory provisions were: (1) Council may by special order declare that sections 121 and 131 shall not apply to the county. (2) Copy of special order, together with a certificate signed by the chairman or cierk to fhe effect that it has been duly made shall be forwarded to the Minister | for Internal Affairs and shall fortllivith oe gazetted by him, and such special • order shall take effect from the close of the financial year in which it is gazetted. i 3) On the taking effect of such special order the council shall forthwith close the separate riding accounts by incorporating in tlie general~aScourft of the county fund the balances of such separate accounts. (4) Subject to sub-section 2 of section 120 of the principal Act, +he council shall thereafter make and levy all general rates over the county as a whole, instead of separately in each riding, and before making any such rate shall cause an estimate to be prepared of the proposed expenditure of the council, during the period for which the rate is to be made, showing any sums available for such purpose, the/additionall sum required, the j total ratable value of the property on l the valuation roll, and the general rate j thereon necessary to raise the money required; and such estimate, being approved by the council, shall be publicly | notified in the county not later than one week before Ihe proposed rate is mace. Section 23 (2) Finance Act (No. 3) 1934: | —Where a special toan is secured by a special rate made over portion of the dis- | trict (county) the local authority may, j with the consent of the audit office, by l special order decide to pay out of the general fund, the interest or interest and sinking fund charges in resp*ect of the loan or, in the case of a special loan rc- ’ payable by instalments, any instalment of principal and interest. Uniform Rate Over County If riding accounts are abolished and one uniform general rate is levied over the county to produce the same amount as has been levied for the current year over the 10 ridings (£21,133) and to provide the annual interest and sinking fund charges on all loans (£5473) the following would be the position from a rating standpoint.

Current General Rate The current rating on general rate only

Present current general rates levied in all 10 ridings produce £21,133 as above, and with total loan rates of £5473 give a total of £26,606. , . . One uniform general rate levied over the whole county and required to produce £26,606, would be 4 3 / 4 the £, and would yield £26,334. The unimnroved value of the county is £1,330,580 and a rate of V*d in the £ would yield £1386, a rate of V 2 d, £2772 and a rate of Id, £5544. Mileage of Roaus, Highways The mileage of metalled and clay roads and highways is:

Declared State Highways between Whangarei and Kawakawa total 17 miles: Whangarei and Dargaville, 15 miles, and Whangarei and Waipu, 331 i miles, a total of 65Va miles. This leaves 150 miles of highways under county control. In addition to' the 150 miles of highways remaining under county control, there are 511 miles of other metalled roads and approximately 214 miles of clay roads in use. Opportunity For Discussion It would be well for members to have the opportunity of discussing the question, said the chairman (Mr. J. A. S. Mac Kay). The abolition of riding accounts had been adopted by about 50 per cent, of county councils in the Dominion with satisfactory results. It was for councillors to say what should be done but there would be no harm in their discussing the question, and he moved that the council should agree to hold a special meeting for this purpose. . Cr. J. Morrison said the proposal had been before the council twice before and no change had been made. He pointed out that Cr. A. J. McKay would not be present at the meeting to express his views. Remarking that such a proposal was a major item, Cr. G. O. Dysart asked for some particulars. Changed Conditions The clerk (Mr. H. C. Hemphill) said the time seemed opportune for again considering the question. There had been considerable changes since 1936 when it had last been discussed and it was opportune that it should now be reviewed. In what way had there been changes ? Cr. Feaver asked. The chairman : One change is in the personnel of the council. The clerk : The biggest factor is in State highways: Cr. A. Clarke said that grants which had previously been available were not available now, the position thereby being affected. No purpose could be served in discussing the question at the moment and that should be left to the special meeting, said Cr. F. Elliott. Main roads were now out of the council’s hands but whether that materially affected the position he did not know. Facts Set Out Whether the proposal had been before the council once or twice previously was not questioned by council-

lors, it being stated that if it had been discussed twice, the first time must have been many years prior to 1936 when it was last before the council. Cr. W. C. B. Powell said that if the material had been prepared it would be of interest for study by councillors. The report prepared by the clerk, who stated that all facts relating, to the proposal had been set out, was circulated. Would. it be advisable for councillors to obtain before the special meeting an expression of opinion from the ratepayers ? asked Cr. Feaver. It seemed to him that it would be in order for riding members to call meetings of ratepayers to secure their views. Whether meetings of ratepayers were called was for each riding member to decide, said the chairman. The council agreed to hold the special meeting to discuss the question.

0 0 C m tic -j « 5 CK 0 75 r-< Vi 0 U .£5 £ c o C 0 03 ftC cj 0 4J 0 3 ? 0 03 E uo Wi-1 HK

Hikurangi .. 33,4 d id 4d 444 d Kiripaka 4d %d 4%d 4 3 Ad Maunu .. 37/16d 3 3 Ad 4%d Mangakahia .. 5‘id • 4d 9‘Ad 4%d Mangapai .. 34Jd 4d 4‘id 4 3 id Maungakaramea 3‘id ; ad 3y 8 d 4 3 id Manaia .. 4‘id 3‘ id 7 3 Ad 44id Wairua .. 4 >: ( d Id 5‘Ad 4 3 Ad Otonga .. 4‘Ad 1‘ ad 5%d 4 3 4d Waipu 3d a d 3‘ad 4 3 id Annual Loan Charges and Rate Riding Rate Annual Interest and Required to Sinking Charges Meet Annual Riding on Loans Charges Hikurangi £116 3 id in £ Kiripaka £175 %d in £ Maunu .. £3«'G 7/lGdin £ Mangakahia .. £1526 4d in £ Mangapai £424 3 Ad in £ Maungakaramea £171 3 ad in £ Manaia .. .. £1303 3'Ad in £ Wairua .. £577 Id in £ Otonga .. £677 l‘id in £ Waipu .. £108 ‘/ad in £ Total £5473

is: General Rate Levied To Yield Riding 1941-1942 £ s d Hikurangi . 39id 1802 8 5 Kiripaka 4d 2034 1 0 Maunu . 3 lid 2941 17 n Mangakahia . 5 lid 2077 15 5 Mangapai . 3%d 2145 2 5 Maungakaramea 3>/ 2 d 1631 1 5 Manaia . 41' a d 1825 19 6 Wairua . 41id 2314 5 5 Otonga . 41id 1918 11 0 Waipu 3d 2442 13 9 Total £21,133 16 3

M r*i a a j-.'C och £ 3 c T3 O £ O CO tJ} c - •3 x: CM tp °a 2$ rs cz °“.u o>^> 2Js £ " sis 5 os g’O r£ n lies Clay oads S §00 Swu S«

Hikurangi .. 11 — 42 19 Kiripaka . . i6v 2 58 20 Maunu" .. .. ..15 6V2 49 16 Mangakahia .. — 221/2 45 22

Mangapai • • • 4Vs 23 46 37 Maungakaramea 8 10 38 9 Manaia — 14 57 21 Wairua — 18 Vz 62 16 Otonga 6 3445 24 Waipu .. 21 — 69 30 Totals 65 y 2 150 511 214