Some Rotorua moteliers are refusing to pay a council fee for building inspections, claiming the council is double dipping and charging outrageous fees for simple jobs.
Rotorua Association of Motels president Fiona Suurenbroek said the Rotorua District Council was charging moteliers $203 (including GST) for a 10-minute building warrant of fitness check that could be done online or by moteliers themselves.
The checks are made monthly by moteliers who also have to hire an independent qualified person (IQP), authorised by the council, to carry out quarterly and annual safety checks for everything from fire extinguishers and alarms to pool fencing, emergency exits, hand rails and elevators.
The fee is made up of a $150 inspection fee plus a $53 administration fee, including GST.
Council building services manager Darrell Holder said he had spoken to moteliers about the charges and was sure they knew what they were for.
"The Rotorua District Council, like many councils, has a policy of recovering most of the costs for carrying out these services from the parties involved, rather than adding the costs to the general rates of other ratepayers.
"Councils throughout the country have varying fee structures. However, Rotorua's is cheaper than many others including the neighbouring cities of Tauranga and Hamilton," he said.
Mrs Suurenbroek said all moteliers had to keep a log book detailing their safety checks and/or problems which were inspected annually by a council officer.
"This has been raised with the council on a number of times as it's a continual frustration to us. We are already paying an independent person to do this work. We understand we are in a higher-risk business and safety is paramount but we are disputing these invoices."
Mrs Suurenbroek said letters had been sent to the council by the association on January 9, but they had not heard back.
Union Victoria Motel owner Bruce Beesley said moteliers were being used as a "cash cow" by the council to gain revenue.
"We pay our IQP about $300 a year for this, remembering he is a council-approved inspector. He sends all of his information to council and then they send another inspector round to check his work.
"He's here for 10 minutes at the most and we are charged $200-plus for the privilege, for something their own approved inspector has already approved."
Mr Beesley said he was refusing to pay the fee until he had some clarification from the council and knew a number of other moteliers were doing the same.
Motel Association of New Zealand chief executive Michael Baines said he was right behind Rotorua's moteliers.
He said moteliers were tired of all the compliance costs, which in some cases appeared to be spiralling out of control.
District councillor Mike McVicker said he supported moteliers in their stance, saying the fee was not fair and he had attempted unsuccessfully to have it changed in the past.
Mr McVicker said the council was being greedy and should lower the charge dramatically or at least communicate better with moteliers.
But, Mr Holder said the claim council charged $203 for 10 minutes work was untrue.
He said annual audits would take at least an hour and were essential.
"This means the public can have confidence that buildings they use are safe and in an emergency the likes of alarms and sprinkler systems can be relied on to function."
Mr Holder said council audit charges were based on an hourly rate of $160 per hour. Inspections took an average of 50 minutes and fees also covered travel, data entry, record management and correspondence.