Moteliers angered over fee

A ROTORUA motelier sick of district council bills he says are "sucking the life" out of his business is fighting the newest local government fee.
Steve Osborne, who owns Alpin Motel in Sala St, plans to complain to the Ombudsman about a $150 Rotorua District Council fee for a random building inspection, saying it should be covered by his rates.
The council says the fee is what the service costs and is part of a user-pays system. Mr Osborne and Alan Hope, who owns Victoria Lodge in Victoria St, are upset the council is charging them to check that their motels' warrants of fitness are valid and up to date. They say copies of the warrant are already filed with the council - at a cost to them of $45. That's on top of what they pay independent assessors to issue them with a building warrant of fitness.
The moteliers say it's bureaucracy gone mad and are refusing to pay the inspection fee.
Mr Osborne, chairman of the Rotorua branch of the Motels Association of New Zealand, said many colleagues he had spoken to shared his views.
The council's building services manager, Darrell Holder, said the council had been doing inspections since 1995 but was unable to charge for it under the old legislation, with the cost absorbed through rates. Inspections had not been done for two years because resources were diverted to other work required under the Building Act 2004, in force since March 2005.
Inspections started again three months ago and of the 61 hotels and motels inspected so far, there was "something amiss" in the building warrant of fitness paperwork of 56. In many cases it was minor but one accommodation provider had not had the required regular safety checks done for 18 months.
Almost 900 buildings in Rotorua - hotels, motels, shops, schools, day care centres and industrial premises - will be inspected to make sure they have a building warrant of fitness. All are buildings with "specified systems" like sprinklers, fire alarms, fire extinguishers, air conditioning and lifts.
The accommodation sector was being dealt with first because it affected the largest number of people, Mr Holder said. Inspectors checked paperwork was up to date.
Under the new legislation the council could charge for inspections, with the cost decided by councillors. The fee was reviewed annually but had not increased from last year. Mr Holder said the amount was similar to that charged by local bodies like Hamilton and Tauranga.
"It's just the cost of doing business. It's a user pays scenario."
People who did not pay the fee would be referred to debt collectors.
Mr Osborne said he already paid the council more than $1000 a week in rates. It cost him about $1800 a year for an independent building inspector to do monthly checks to ensure the motel met building warrant of fitness requirements.

When a council inspector visited his motel recently he was there for about 10 minutes, checked the motel's paperwork to ensure he had a building warrant of fitness and left. Mr Osborne received a bill for $150.
He said he did not understand the need for an inspection when the council already had a copy of his motel building warrant of fitness. If checks had to be done they should be done on the independent assessors, he said.
Mr Holder said the council did audit the independent assessors. He said the legislation only allowed the council to charge the building owner or lessee.
He would not have any real problem paying the fee if a council inspection found he was not complying but his paperwork was up to date.

The Ombudsman deals with complaints relating to administration acts or omissions by Government departments or local bodies. The Ombudsman could make recommendations to the council and although they would not be binding, they are often heeded.