HOSPITAL RATE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 05, Issue 48, 4 May 1942, Page 5

HOSPITAL RATE

LEVY METHOD CRITICISED

COMBINED MEETING CALLED

1 COUNTY COUNCIL'S ACTION r The intimation that the Hospital levy to be found by the : Whakatane County this year would be £4987, caused a vigorous s protest to be registered by speakl * ers at the council meeting last week. The impression was not * improved when the Clerk pros d'ueed a comparison table shows Ing that the increase during the last six years had been over one hundred per cent. > s Cr Spence said the rale was bc- , coming unendurable. It was utterly t wrong that a section of the com- - munity should be called upon to . carry the full weight of hospital r institutions and the sooner Hospital . Boards were put on the basis of 5 School Committees the better. He - considered that the county had ar- ! rived at the 1 stage when a vigorous protest should be made to the Minister. He had gone a little into the matter audi found that in the event | of a council refusing to strike a > rate as a protest, the Government . had the power to appropriate the ; amount from loan monies or grants c.r the Valuer General could step in and lev}' 1 the. rate over the heads of . the council. , Cr McGougan pointed out that . there was not likely to be any re- [ auction but rather a continual in- . crease. Each additional building : erected by the Board meant new > equipment and increased staff. i Cr McCreadj T agreed that hospitals ; were needed for humane reasons , but it was necessary that there were humane methods of paying for them . as well. The trouble was that the . Social Security allowed only 67- per > bed, whereas the cost was actually , twice that figure and the ratepayers . had to find the difference. The sys- . tem of rating was all getting out of ; hand. Cr Burt: At every County Confer- , ence* there is always a remit about this thing but we never get much further. I'm afraid there will be , more to come. We will need a cliild- , ren's ward for it is ridiculous, to have children occupying the same space as adults when we are so confined. On Cr Spence's motion it was finally decided that for the purpose of framing a united protest to the Government on the incidence of hospital taxation that the Council convene a meeting of all rating local authorities in the Bay of Plenty and Rotorua districts, and that such Local Authorities be asked to indicate if Hon. Minister of Health should be invited to be present. It was further decided That the Council protest to the Hon. Minister of Health on the incidence of hospital taxation and advise him that it was calling a meeting of rating Local- Authorities for the purpose of discussing this important matter.