KEY POINTS:
Franklin District Council says it is unfair that its Waikato residents are required to pay a levy that provides money for two Auckland museums.
By law, all residents of the areas administered by the local councils of the Auckland region are required to pay a levy to go towards the funding of the Auckland War Memorial Museum and the Museum of Transport and Technology (Motat).
But some Franklin residents are upset that they have to pay the levy, as they do not live in Auckland but in the Waikato region.
The Franklin district is on the boundary of the Auckland Regional Council area and the Waikato Regional Council area, meaning half of its residents live in Auckland and the other half in Waikato.
Franklin District Council mayor Mark Ball said that it was unfair for those living in Waikato to have to contribute towards funding for something in Auckland.
"For some years now, Franklin ratepayers within the Waikato region have had to pay for Auckland facilities.
"This is seen as unfair by the residents and the council," Mr Ball said.
Previously, only those Franklin residents within the Auckland region had to pay the levy, but since the introduction of the Local Government (Ratings) Act 2002, the entire Franklin district has had to contribute.
Now the Franklin District Council is putting forward an amendment bill to Parliament, so that people living in the Waikato region do not have to pay the levy.
Mr Ball said: "Unfortunately, despite Franklin District Council approaching and lobbying several groups, no one has taken action.
"We believe it is an important issue so have decided to undertake this process to sort out the problem ourselves."
Franklin residents living in the Waikato region are required to contribute to both Waikato and Auckland Regional Councils, but Franklin residents within Auckland only have to pay for funding towards the Auckland Regional Council and not Waikato.
The approval of the bill would mean a slight increase for Franklin ratepayers living in the Auckland district who contribute to the museum levy, as well as an increase for other residents of the greater Auckland region.
In the last financial year, the Franklin District Council contributed $459,000 towards the Auckland War Memorial Museum and $159,000 towards Motat.
In the coming year, the council will contribute just over $1 million towards the two museums.
Of this, $755,000 will go to the Auckland War Memorial Museum and $290,000 to Motat.
In the last financial year, councils in the Auckland region - including Manukau, Auckland, North Shore and Waitakere cities and the Rodney, Papakura and Franklin districts contributed just over $22 million to the Auckland War Memorial Museum alone.
