Govt no to city fuel tax

A tax at Hamilton petrol pumps isn’t coming for at least the next three years, the Government says.

Hamilton city councillors were looking for ways to keep a lid on rate rises and pushed for an 11.5-cent fuel tax to collect money for transport projects.

They hoped it could take a chunk out of the second of two proposed 9.5-per cent rate rises.

The Government said no, councillors heard at a meeting yesterday, but many city councillors weren’t prepared to give up on the idea.

Instead, they voted 10-2 to work on showing why the city needs the tax.

Auckland already has the goahead for a fuel tax, but the Government told Hamilton City Council that Auckland will be the only one signed off this term.

‘‘I accept that,’’ Mayor Andrew King said. ‘‘Obviously I’m disappointed – they acknowledged that we would be disappointed with that – but they’re quite firm on their position.’’

Council should keep pushing its case, Councillor Dave Macpherson said.

He saw the government response as the first bid in a negotiation – ‘‘I heard from them, ‘We don’t favour a fuel tax.’

‘‘I think, in a proportional sense, our traffic issues are very similar to Auckland,’’ he said.

‘‘We’re the second-fastestgrowing city in the country, after Auckland. It’s not like Oamaru or Dunedin needs the transport improvement budget that we need.

‘‘There’s a special reason that here and Auckland and perhaps Tauranga do need that vehicle for additional revenue.’’

Council has previously said a petrol tax would bring in about $10 million a year and Macpherson said yesterday that it would bring in enough to cover the city’s annual transport improvement budget.

If that work’s not done, gridlock will descend quicker, Macpherson said.

Lobbying local MPs was Cr Rob Pascoe’s suggestion.

‘‘Are we just going to sit there and take that as a final answer? That there’s no fuel tax for Hamilton?

‘‘It was made quite clear by the minister of finance that they didn’t want this going outside the parameters of Auckland city,’’ King replied, ‘‘and they were very firm about it.’’

A Hamilton fuel tax is not on the agenda, Finance Minister Grant Robertson said.

‘‘It’s not our policy, it’s not what we as the Labour Party campaigned on. Obviously we’ve got a coalition government now but it isn’t our intention to go ahead with any other regional fuel taxes at this time,’’ he said.

‘‘The funding gap that Auckland had between its Auckland Transport plan and the revenue it was able to generate, that’s why we agreed to it specifically in Auckland.’’

However, he did expect other regions which were interested in a fuel tax to keep campaigning for it.

Transport Minister Phil Twyford said in a statement that the Government did recognise that Hamilton was a major growth centre and played an important transport role in the upper North Island.

Councillors voted 10-2 for chief executive Richard Briggs to mount a case for a fuel tax to bring in money for Hamilton’s transport improvements and work out how to promote the case.

Those against the motion were Crs Angela O’Leary and Paula Southgate.