HEAVY TRAFFIC FEES

Taranaki Daily News, 11 September 1940, Page 3

HEAVY TRAFFIC FEES

BASIS OF ALLOCATION COUNTY AND BOROUGH Notification that the Opunake Borough Council could not agree to the proposal that the existing agreement for the allocation of heavy traffic fees on the basis of 80 per cent. to the Egmont County Council and 20 per cent. to the Opunake Borough Council should not apply to the fees collected on farmers' trucks was received by the Egmont County Council yesterday. The council vvent inlo committee on the question and later it was reported that it had been decided to refer the matter to the finance committee. It was pointed out by the borough council that the amount received by it was in keeping with that received by other boroughs in Taranaki. It was shown how much less the borough council had received in comparison with other boroughs before the making of the new agreement last year. Even according to that schedule it was pointed out that the 'county council received £93 14s 10d more than in the previous year, in spite of the increased percentage allowed to the borough ur.der the new agreement. Question of Exemption. From resolutions passed at the annual r. ceting of the local bodies' association it "would appear that fees collected from farmers' trucks were to be included in the apportionment between the .sub-dis-tricts, and the Opunake Borough Council was not aware that the question of exempting farmers' trucks had been raised in other sub-districts. The borough council considered that it. should not be expected to make a concession that other borough councils were not called upon to make. It therefore suggested that the position should remain unaltered until the effect of the collection of fees on farmers' trucks could be ascertained at the end of the year, when any alteration desired could be made through the local bodies' association with a view to uniformity. It was also pointed out that boroughs in the past had not raised any objection to the non-collection of fees on farmers' trucks, though many had frequently used the borough streets.