RIDING RATES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 13 April 1938, Page 7

RIDING RATES

THE POSITION IN MASTERTON COUNTY UNIFORM LEVY SUGGESTED SPIRITED OPPOSITION A proposal by the chairman, Mr W. I. Armstrong, at yesterday’s meeting of the Masterton County Council, to abolish riding accounts and to strike a uniform rate overthe whole county to cover all expenditure met with spirited opposition from several councillors. It was eventually decided to discuss the proposal further at the annual meeting.

Mr Armstrong said he doubted whether the authorities would sanction the raising of a loan for bridge construction in a single riding. There was a lot' of expensive work being done in the county, and he thought that the only thing to do to put matters on a proper basis would be to strike a uniform rate over the whole of the county. All the necessary bridge and road work could then be carried out and everything brought up to date. Ultimately, the ridings could be abolished. Under his scheme, back-country settlers, who were entitled to get a little of their own back, would be given a chance to breathe. He moved that a uniform rate be struck over the whole of the county to cover all expenditure. Councillor J. Donald seconded the motion.

“It is a very unfair and unjust way of doing things,” observed Councillor J. W. Colquhoun, who added: “It looks to me like the thin edge of the wedge to abolish ridings next year. Because some ridings have got into difficulties, you are going to penalise the others. Nothing was done to help the Opaki Riding when it was doing a lot of work and had a debit balance of £B4O. We have no idea what the rate will be. There has been too much of this spending money without knowing what the result will be.” Councill P. R. Welch said he did not see why they should be pulled in to make up the deficits of other ridings. If ridings would not put their accounts in order and budget properly he did not think the council should be responsible.

That there was a definite community of interest between all ridings, was the opinion of Councillor J. Donald, who favoured and supported the scheme. Councillor Colquhoun: “The Weraiti deviation job was undertaken by the riding, and I say that it has got out of hand. A mistake has been made. The original estimate of the cost was £9OO, spread over two years, but it has already cost £BOO, and the work is only a third' of the way through. That has naturally put the riding in a bad position. The universal rate could not be less than Id, and it will lead us into fresh expenditure unless there are some drastic reductions.” Councillor G. Moore said he was opposed to the principle of a uniform general rate over the whole county. The control of expenditure was everybody’s job and should not be left to one individual. The existing rating system had worked well in the past and, when necessary, the ratepayers had come forward even in times of stress.

While he really favoured the abolition of ridings, Councillor H. H. Mawley said he could not support the motion in its present form. He considered that all work should stand on its merits, and be a charge over the whole county and not on the individual ridings. He did not think that the abolition of ridings and the striking of a general rate would affect the finances in the long run.

Councillor G. Lee said that were too much in the dark. The chairman had come to light with a wild motion without giving any indication of what the rate would be. Under his proposal, the man with the dear land was going to foot the bill. He did not think they should saddle the incoming council with such a scheme.

Mr Armstrong: "We would be doing the right thing by adopting the proposal because we will be forced into it in the near future.”

x After some further general discussion, Mr Armstrong withdrew his motion, and it was decided to defer consideration of the proposal until the annual meeting, when the Clerk, Mr J. C. D. Mackley, is to present figures relating to the possible rate and othei financial matters.