More fuel you: Councils eye tax at the pumps
FOUND yourself smirking at those Aucklanders having to fork out for an extra fuel tax? Or are you a driver in the City of Sails irate that you’re picking up the tab for the rest of the country?
Either way, news that councils throughout the country are now looking to raise cash through hiking prices at the pumps is likely to raise further eyebrows.
Auckland Council has agreed to open public consultation on a proposed regional fuel tax of 11.5 cents per litre for a maximum of 10 years, but, thanks to the legislation put forward by Transport Minister Phil Twyford to allow the country’s largest city to introduce the tax from July, the country’s remaining regional councils will be also able to apply to the Government for a maximum of 10 cents per litre fuel tax (plus GST) from 2021.
In a submission to the select committee, Greater Wellington Regional Council said it supported the bill but would like the ability to make parts of the region exempt, as Auckland Council had also requested.
Hamilton City Council had already told the Government it was keen to have a fuel tax and Christchurch City Council wants to introduce a fuel tax to help repair earthquake-damaged roads.
In the central North Island, Horizons Regional Council chair Bruce Gordon said it did not support the bill because the tax, on top of the Government’s proposed nationwide petrol excise duty, ‘‘would be felt extremely hard by our communities’.
It would consider a regional fuel tax if sub-region or district specific taxes were available but until then it had no intention of applying for one, he said.
Local Government New Zealand president Dave Cull said his group supported the bill but wanted the tax to be made available to all councils, not just regional councils.
AA petrol prices spokesman Mark Stockdale said that although the AA did not support regional fuel taxes outside of Auckland, a regional fuel tax would appeal to councils looking to raise revenue while avoiding rates rises.
‘‘No other part of New Zealand has the same critical pressures that Auckland has.’’