Unanimous vote for rates rise for Ruapehu

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 13, Issue 590, 13 June 1995, Page 1

Unanimous vote for rates rise for Ruapehu

Rural oroperties to be charged less than last year, urban more — Ohakune up 14.5%

Ruapehu District' s rate take over the whole district will rise by 5.25. per cent follow ing the decision by councillors to accept a modified draft annual plan presented by council chief executive Cliff Houston at a special meeting in Ohakune last Wednesday. At their previous meeting councillors decided they wanted to see a rate increase in the northern wards of around 3-4 per cent so asked for an amerided plan. Mr HoUston proposed on Wednesday that the north-south split in the roading rate be retained and that all roading improvement projects in the north apart from Waitaanga Road and Ongarue Back Road be deleted, and in the south, that the Ruatiti Road sealing work be deleted.

Councillors accepted this plan with the inclusion of the sealing of 850 metres of Whakapapa Road (the State Highway Four end). This means rates in Taumarunui will rise overall by 3 . 1 per cent; in National Park by 3 . 7 per cent and in the Ohura ward by 4.0 per cent. The changes have little effect on the rates on the southern wards as the projects deleted were in the northern wards, apart from the Ruatiti Road sealing. So the final decision means an average Raetihi urban ratepayer will be paying 3.8 per cent more (Or $684 for an average fully serviced section) and a rural ratepayer 0. 19 per cent less than last year; a ^ i^ilUna^^nerrenr^

more (or $693 for an average fully serviced sec-

tion). Ohakune urban' s massive increase re-

mains because of the increases in water

and seweraee costs: 14.4 Der cent (or

$828 for an average fully serviced

sprtinnV Ohakune rural is

down 0.22 per cent.

Mr Houston and

engineer Bruce

Dobson ex-

Turn to

Pase 2

Councillors vote for rate rise

FROMPAGE1 plained their reasons for the change in road improvement projects, saying the W ai taanga Road proj ect had an extremely high benefit/ cost ratio (13.7), which meant there were would be an "extremely good rate of return" on the project. He said the council needed to look at economic reasons for doing projects, and consider social reasons separately. Any project with a benefit/cost ratio of less than one would cost the council more in the long run, while projects over one would save money. The Ruatiti Road project was given a ratio of 0.9. MayorGarrickWorkman and Cr Bob Peck said they would like to see the Ruatiti project included. Cr John Compton said he was prepared to see it deleted so long as it was represented to the Waimarino Community Board for consideration in the 1996-97 plan. "It doesn't mean it (the

Ruatiti project) is dead for all time," said Mr Houston. "Ruatiti will become viable when traffic counts increase. It makes sense to spend money on roads where it would cost you more money in the long run to leave it," added Mr Houston. He said when money was tight it was important to take notice of the benefit/cost ratio. Mr Workman said there were other factors that should be considered including social ones, and the recommendations of the community boards. Mr Houston said if there were sound social reasons for promoting a proj ect then one had to "advance cogent arguments" in favour. Mr Workman said he wanted to see a better mix of rural/urban road projects. As it stands, projects included (for the south) are: sealing Burns Street, Tawhero Street, Matapuna Road, and Miharo Street, all of which had b/c ratios of 1.08 or greater.

"My recommendation is to delete Ruatiti Road, review the vehicle count and look at it again and consider the social benefits." During the discussion on retaining the north/south split, Mr Houston said he had thought that this year would be the best chance to

remove it. He said the disadvantages of having a split were that if there were ever major problems the council had only half the district's financial resources to deal with it. "It destroys flexibility." However, it could be argued that it ~was a logical

split as they were two separate and distinct road networks. The final motion to accept the 1995-96 Ruapehu District Council Annual Plan, with the Whakapapa Road project included and Ruatiti Road deleted, was passed unanimously.