Council may be split on land fund

Ruapehu Bulletin, 6 August 1991, Page 8

Council may be split on land fund

A policy is yet to be decided on where money from the sale of surplus council property should go. The council is to discuss the issue at a later workshop session, having decided at their meeting of 2 August that there was not the time to discuss the matter fully then.

There is a potential split in council on the issue, with Waimarino and the old Taumarunui County areas possibly disadvantaged to the former Taumarunui Borough, which sold off much of its property prior to the amalgamation, if proceeds go into a general fund. The Waimarino Com-

munity Board recommended to the council that proceeds from land saies should remain in the ward concerned. In his report to the council, general manager Cliff Houston said it could be argued that the three authorities of Taumarunui County and Borough and Waimarino District did not enter the

amalgamation on a "level playing field". He reported that Taumarunui Borough chose to realise some property and put the proceeds into special funds for the benefit of Taumarunui Borough. Taumarunui County and Waimarino District did not take such action so. their properties became the property of the

new Ruapehu District Council. Mr Houston urged council not to set up special funds such as those suggested by Waimarino. "The major disadvantage in establishing special funds is that it tends to prioritise certain projects because of the availability of allo-

cated funds rather than having them treated on their merits together with all other demands for funds at the time funding deeisions are made," he said in his report. He also said there would be difficulties in defining the area of benefit for special funds. He said he favoured the option of putting prop-

erty sale funds into the general fund for the benefit of the district as a whole and thus making a break with the past "although the difficulty created by one former authority deliberately marshalling its funds into dedicated special funds is acknowledged. Perhaps this should be treated as an accident of history."