Outside referee for councils' finance wrangle

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 3, Issue 29, 10 December 1985, Page 1

Outside referee for councils' finance wrangle

On Friday night, in their second amalgamation meeting of the week, Waimarino councillors decided to ask the government Audit Office to prepare an analysis of the administrative costs of each authority so that they could be objectively compared. The meeting was chaired by Waimarino County Council chairman Bruce Berry who said the meeting was called to discuss broad ,

aspects of amalgamation and to attempt to break the stalemate which emerged over the recent weeks. "I wish to emphasise the county considers that no authority should be penalised financially and no authority should have to pay more than they pay now when they go into amalgamation," he said. The meeting followed another on Monday 2 December when the Ohakune Borough Council resolved unilaterally to send its ideas and proposals on amalgamation to the Local Government Commission. Ohakune Mayor Bill Taylor said that night that it was imperative that Ohakune send its ideas to the commission even though the other partners in the proposed Waimarino district council might not agree, and that he did not favour discussing financial details until after amalgamation was achieved. "We are wasting the commission 's and our time if we go back to step one, or if we look at the nuts and bolts • Continued page 3.

Outside referee for councils

• Continued from page 1. now — union is the important thing," he said that night. Bruce Berry had left that meeting after 30 minutes without speaking because he said it had been made quite clear that it was an Ohakune Borough Council meeting and he was not given the opportunity to speak. "I was bitterly disappointed that we could not enter discussion when we had shown by our presence that we were prepared to negotiate," he said. Friday's meeting managed to move several obstacles in the way of unified action by the three councils. "Certainly there was a

positive feel about it and it is to be hoped that we can get our act together and get this amalgamation under way as soon as possible," said Bill Taylor. Raetihi Mayor Garrick Workman reiterated that the meeting was a good one. "Everybody was of a mind to get this administrative cost problem ironed out and see if we can work our way through with the assistance of the Audit Office to finalise our proposal early in the 1 new year," he said. Mr Workman said that he had hoped that a letter, signed by the three council leaders, could have been sent to Brian Elwood,

chairman of the Local Government Commission, explaining the reasons for the delay and assuring him that the councils were still optimistic about amalgamation, but this had to be postponed until the idea had gone back to each full council. This may be of signillcance because of a letter from the commission read at last Monday's meeting which expressed disappointment at the failure of the three councils to resolve their differences by the 1 December deadline. The letter went on: "The commission had received a submission from a neigh-

bouring county suggesting that the planned union of your councils should be delayed with a view to looking at a larger union of councils. The submission suggests that your councils should be looking either north to Taumarunui or south to Wanganui. I therefore suggest that there is a degree of urgency in your indicating to the commission agreement on outstanding issues before the commission considers in detail Ihe submission of your neighbouring county." In other business at Friday's meeting it was resolved that an independent chairman be appointed for steering committee meetings, that the press should be admitted, despite a motion to the contrary, and that councillors with special expertise, such as in works or finance, be invited to those meetings.