The Bay of Plenty Beacon Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. MONDAY, MAY 26, 1941. HOSPITAL RATING

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 4, Issue 110, 26 May 1941, Page 4

The Bay of Plenty Beacon Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. MONDAY, MAY 26, 1941. HOSPITAL RATING

OF interest to the public bodies of New Zealand is a proposed new system in respect to hospital rating. For many years counties, councils, municipal bodies and town boards have had to face the increasing cost of hospital upkeep, and to levy higher rates on property owners consequent upon the greater financial demands of hospital institutions, which b.v legislation are practically empowered to demand greater sums year by year. The passing of the Social Security Act meant the receipt by hospital boards of revenue which should have been followed by decreased levies on local bodies, but on account of the ever increasing costs by reason of the greater number of patients being registered, the desired reductions have not come to pass. Naturally the Government has .been fully apprised of the state of affairs financially, and the newly-appointed Minister Health, the Hon. A. H. Nordmeyer, has had to give the subject more than a partial consideration, and he has stated that a more equitable system of rating whereby the upkeep of hospitals will be a national and not a local cost, will be evolved- The president of the Municipal Association recently stated that the Municipal and Counties Associations have for many years been striving to evolve, such a scheme, being convinced that the only equitajble system of rating for hospital expenditure is by levy on wages and salaries. This principle has been adopted in part under the Social Security Act. Under that Act hospital expenditure to the extent of 6/per day per patient was raised by the tax on wages and salaries. An additional charge of slightly more than one penny in the pound in the Social Security levy would have taken the load off ratepayers. The Minister of Health may, or may not, be willing to adopt the suggestion of the Local Bodies Association, especially that in regard; to an increase of even one penny in the pound on wages and salaries'. Perhaps it would be. better to legislate in the direction of allocating a given sum from the Consolidated Fund. This fund already has heavy commitments per annum, but it is in the position of registering a very heavy revenue. ThJs revenue includes in its list of "Easy Money" the totalisator taxation of the Dominion, equal to a very high amount, which if specially devoted to hospital finance would in itself greatly decrease the rating of public bodies. The proposal to increase the Social Security levy by a further charge on wages and salaries would not be as acceptable to the peopi* as a whole as one favouring the Government's revenue from racing being made available for the purpose here indicated.