Although ,at the top of a submission form it says any personal information supplied will be made available to councilors and the public very little of public submission comment ever is. My submission said that council's rating policies were not a more equitable way of collecting rates. That policies say that for the yesr 2009 2010, council will require to collect $14.6 million. If farmer's rates increase by a 1% average, with some and rural ratepayers having a decrease, the balance has to be made up by rate increases for urban rate payers of up to 30% for a reported average of 13.7%. The explanation appears to be that although urban rate payers will fund all water and wase water supplies without user pays input from rural and farming ratepayers, it is suggested that we urban rate payers should share their road transport rates as users when this does not represent actual road usage. We have 66.19 klms of urban sealed roads and 1.6 klms unsealed. There are , however 777.35 klms of sealed rural roads and 417 klms unsealed. Our major towns of Waipukurau, Waipawa and the villages of OngaOnga, Otane,Tikokino and Takapau are all on or close to roading funded by the Road Transport authority. Everything to service those towns and the rural communities use those highways. From there everything required to service the other rural and coastal settlements, including farming and other rural rate payers, use both urban and rural roading. This, I believe, is a complete inbalance of road useage that has been correctly funded by the current rate of 0.2339cents in the dollar, rural and 0.1121cents in the dollar (urban). Road transport rates are calculated on land value.

Farmers and land owners, particularly on coastal and desireable rural locations have greatly increased the value of all rural land by the amount payed to them for the land they have sold or subdivided for sale. Therefore, instrimental in their road transport rates increasing, many of those who have done so along with the developers of those subdivisions remain locally. With more subdivisions planned. An example being; the development of Shoal Bay Aromoana with sub divided sections with asking prices up to and over $900.000. If their land transport rates are shared with Waipukurau, Waipawa ratepayers as proposed, we will see home owners already strugling to pay rates and retain ownership of their properties, in those towns, providing decreases in rates for those who have purchased those sections. Furthermore, farmers and business people who have purchased rural land, already have considerable taxpayer funding by way of being able to claim GST refunds on their rates and their rates at a cost of running their business for taxation purposes that include repairs and maintainence , depreciation, running costs of vehicles etc. etc. None of which apply to the majority of urban rate payers who are having dificulty in paying their rates and do not have the ability to work to make the extra finance to do so while it is suggested they help provide a prefered lifestyle for those who can.

There was another subject covered by my submission that I will include in a further blog. But to conclude this issue there was five minutes allowed to present it and five minutes to answer questions. There were no questions. One councilor, however, made a reply. She said although she understood where I was coming from in regard to farmers, etc.etc. they were our biggest ratepayers and we have to look after them because we need them. My answer to what she had said was , but they need us as well ! However, I in my opinion, the welfare of farmers was not her only consideration , if my information is correct, she owns a property at Parongahau and a beach cottage, both locations have experienced greatly increased land values and therefore under the current rating sysem, aditional road transport costs with expensive water supplies in both locations . However, if the new new rating policy is applied, the cost of those water supplies will be shared by all urban ratepayers as will road transport costs on both properties . It has been suggested this will result in a 27% decrease in her rates ?

It is inevitable with further increases in the cost of rural roading that Waipukurau and Waipawa ratepayers along with compounding rate increases will not be able to share the road transport costs so all other urban comunities will be required to assist. The suggestion from many urban ratepayers is that these changes will result in their not being able to retain ownership of their homes and their lifetime savings invested in them, in some cases because of morgage responsibilities. How many of our rural and farming councilors, with the changes they propose, be in the same position ? None ! Or will they be prepared to tell us the amount their rates will decrease .