Council libaries may be privatised

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 9, Issue 412, 12 November 1991, Page 1

Council libaries may be privatised

In order to widen the debate the Ruapehu District Council went into a 'workshop session' when considering next year's annual plan at its

regular monthly meeting last Friday. Among cost-saving suggestions was the privatisation of district libraries and another that

local farmers grade rural roads. Councillors were considering a report prepared by RDC general manager Cliff Houston to determine the strategy and overall objectives of the 1992/93 Annual Plan. With only one more full council meeting before the end of the year it was necessary for councillors to set broad guide-lines and objectives for management to investigate. In his report Mr Houston said that the current economic climate mitigates against general rate increases and there Turnpage2

Council considers cosi cuffing measures

From page 1 is no doubt the public would like to see a decrease in rates. "Most ratepayers in the rural areas are facing

substantial decreases in their level of disposable incomes and urban dwellers are also feeling the pinch due to limited employment opportuni-

ties," he said. "Whether such an option (a rate reduction) is practicable or desirable in terms of the services that the council provides to the community is a matter for careful consideration." "What is apparent is that the real choice is either between holding rates at their present level or reducing them because a rate increase is not a viable option in the current economic climate." Reduced rates Cr. Doug Bennett insisted that Council must look at reducing rates and not merely holding them at their present level. He said the rural community had all suffered a loss of income in the current year and prospects for next year were even worse. He asked if the level of (Council) service could be maintained if administrative costs could be kept down or reduced. "Council must really look seriously at trimming costs," he said. Mr Houston replied that there was no fat to trim in the existing staff levels and staff were already heavily committed to their current duties. "If you say that I've got to manage with less staff I could take the necessary steps to do so but I can tell you, you would not be happy with the level of service you received," he said. Cr Bennett suggested another alternative was to reduce staff salaries rathcr than reduce staff numbers and Mr Houston agreed that this was also an option that could be looked into. "If you want me to take 10% out of the general rate for next year I will go away and work

out how it could be done but you might not like it. Staffing is already right on the limit," he said. Mayor Garrick Workman agreed saying that Council was already operating a 'lean, mean machine' and that staff and administrative costs were lower than other councils of comparable size. Cr Peach, taking up the suggestion made by Cr Penny to cut the cost of libraries by imposing user-pays charges suggested the Council should look at privatising its libraries by putting them out to tender and used the example of video lending libraries as to what could be done. In the debate which followed the presentation of the general manager's report and recommended alternatives to achieving a nil increase or reduction, some councillors said that decreases of 5% - 10% should be the aim. Service Cr. Weston Kirton said a fine balancing act was required. "Whilst Council should always aim for a reduction in rates this should not jeopardise the standard of service provided." Cr. Bill Penny said Council should look at the possibility of contracting rural roadworks out to local farmers. "That way a lot of travelling time can be saved as local people are more aware of problems occurring in their own neighbourhood and they can attend to these small problems as they develop (with their own machinery and equipment) rather that waiting

for big problems to develop which require more sophisticated and expensive equipment to fix," he said. Cr Bill Peach said while he would like to see a drop in rates he would not like to see a drop in the standards of maintenance on rural roads. Cr Eddie Turley said the public perception as far as roads were concemed was that less regular maintenance and less metal being used on roads, should be reflected in a reduction in rates. Road assets Cr. Penny said the roading network in the Ruapehu District was "the most important asset we have and standards should be maintained." "If costs are to be cut they should be cut elsewhere such as parks and reserves, swimming pools, libraries etc. by imposing user-pays charges. "People will always want to read and borrow books," he said, "and so few ratepayers actually use the library service ... we could save the Council $50,000." Cr Graeme Cosford said while he supported the idea of the District's libraries becoming more user-pays orientated, he had reservations about extending this to selling libraries off to private businesses. "What about playing fields, sports grounds, swimming pools etc? This would leave the public with very little access to these facilities," he said. Cr Don Lawson suggested that the cost of maintaining the present level of Civil Defence preparedness should be

cut. "It costs far too much ($54,000 for the entire Ruapehu District) and in an emergency everyone in the community would come to help." Mr Houston explained that this CD expense was a statutory obligation and could not be considered as a costsaving option. "We cannot walk away from statutory obliga-

tions and part of the costs are due to the fact that the Ruapehu District is so large (7,000 sq kms) whilst the population base (18,000) is so small to support that area," he said. "The operational costs of $54,000 for Civil Defence is only 1% of the Uniform Annual General Charge ... a flat fee of $275 which is levied on every property in the Ruapehu District. The 'workshop session' debate concluded with Council requesting the general manager to prepare a report for its next meeting on 6 December looking at the effects of both a nil increase and a 5% decrease in rates for the next financial year commencing 1 July 1992.