Commerce Commission wants to lift levies
The Commerce Commission wants the Government to boost the levies it can collect from regulated monopolies such as airports and electricity and gas networks.
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The Commerce Commission wants the Government to boost the levies it can collect from regulated monopolies such as airports and electricity and gas networks.
Commerce Minister Simon Power yesterday released a discussion document on the commission's proposals.
"Since the level of funding was set there have been significant changes to the regulations, mainly in 2008, which is why we need to revisit the levels of funding," Mr Power said.
Consultation with both the regulated businesses and the public on how to calculate the levies was needed.
The document sets out two options for ongoing funding: an increase or no change, and calls for submissions from the public by March 7.
A baseline appropriation for electricity regulation was set at $2,667,000 in 2004, and for gas regulation it is $1,600,000. Airport regulation costs $400,000 (for 2011-2012.
But the commission said these funding levels may be too low to reflect the "lumpy" nature of its work.
It is seeking an extra $2.72m in 2011-12, $2.35m in 2012-13, $3.16m in 2013-14, $2.77m in 2014-15, and $2.49m in 2015-16.
This would be equivalent to about 30 fulltime workers, fewer than the 40 which were required for similar work over two years from 2010.
Core staff would be supplemented by consultants and temporary staff where there were peaks in commission workloads.
NZPA
Fri, 18 Feb 2011
Fri, 18 Feb 2011
© All content copyright NBR. Do not reproduce in any form without permission, even if you have a paid subscription.
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Commerce Commission wants to lift levies
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