Community board targeted rate to stand
Tasman District Council has decided not to overturn its decision to set a targeted rate to fund the Golden Bay Community Board.
At a meeting last Thursday the council received a report from its chief executive officer, Paul Wylie, recommending that the rate should not be rescinded.
The only dissenting vote belonged to Golden Bay ward councillor Noel Riley. Golden Bay's other councillor, Stuart Borlase, and the Motueka ward councillors all voted to retain the targeted rate.
Cr Riley said that he had no problem with the targeted rate in principle as long as it applied across the whole region equally.
"We keep paying for things for other people," he said. "I don't mind contributing to something we're getting a benefit from but Golden Bay seems to be being penalised for some unknown reason. To be honest, I've had a gutsful of the unfairness of this. The only argument I heard that made sense was from Cr Trevor Norriss. He said that the rate couldn't be taken out of the books this year but that it could be as part of next year's process."
Cr Borlase agreed with that argument. "The council has made a decision, which I opposed, but council then struck a rate for the coming year. It is budgeted to produce about $40-50,000 but to change it would cost quite a bit of money. I remain opposed to the targeted rate but it's impractical to change it now, When we come to dicuss the ‘09-'10 rate we've got the chance to discuss it again. There was neither the time nor the inclination around the council table to rescind it now," said Cr Borlase.
Golden Bay Community Board chair Joe Bell said that the just outcome would have been for the rate to be rescinded.
"The Local Government Commission confirmed that they believe community boards are a part of governance structure for the district as a whole and therefore their administration should be funded across the district, not just the community concerned," said Mr Bell. "They also recommended that the law should be amended to clarify that community boards should be funded out of the general revenues of the district."
Mr Bell was disappointed with Mr Wylie's report. "A knowledgeable reader has described the CEO's report as sophistry," said Mr Bell. "It contains factual errors and a nonsensical misquote of the Local Government Commission's recommendations.
"The report was available only the day before the council met to make its decision and I think I can see why there would have been reluctance to make it widely available. Time needs to be taken so a decision based on facts can be made. It's an indictment on council that Cr Riley was the only one to vote against adopting the CEO's recommendation based on his report."
Mr Bell said that the hundreds of people who submitted against the targeted rate during the last annual plan process would have no great confidence of being heard in next year's process.
"At the next meeting of the Golden Bay Community Board I will be recommending that we send a copy of the CEO's report and our rebuttal of it to the Local Government Commission, Local Government New Zealand, The Society of Local Government Managers, The Office of Controller and Auditor General, The Office of the Ombudsmen and to the Executive of New Zealand Community Boards, and any other agencies deemed appropriate."
Neil Wilson
