Museums Fear Unaffordable Fire Levy

THURSDAY 18 AUGUST 2016

Museums Fear Unaffordable Fire Levy

Museums Aotearoa says that the new Fire Service Levy set to come into force from July 2017 could place an unequitable burden on arts, culture and heritage institutions and places them and our national collections at risk.

Submissions are due today on a Bill that will bring sweeping changes to New Zealand’s fire services. The changes are designed to ensure that fire and emergency services are well coordinated nationally, and adequately funded. The Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) Bill sets up the new FENZ organisation to be better resourced and better structured to deal with a wide range of emergencies, including fire, road accidents, hazardous substances, flooding and disasters – a goal we can all endorse. However, by making the principle source of funding an expanded fire service levy on property insurance services, Museums Aotearoa is concerned that it will raise costs unfairly for museums and art galleries.

"Our collections are often of high 'value' in relation to the museum's operating budget, says Museums Aotearoa Executive Director Phillipa Tocker. "For instance, a $10m collection may be looked after by a museum with a $100k budget. Any increase in Fire Service levy could be simply unaffordable."

Public museums and art galleries are kaitiaki/custodians of our nation's cultural heritage collections. With around 500 museum institutions ranging from the large metropolitan museums such as Te Papa and Christchurch Art Gallery, through regional museums like Te Manawa or MTG Hawke's Bay to historic house and volunteer museums dotted through almost every community, these collections tell our stories, educate our children and visitors, and provide a lasting legacy for future generations.

MA takes the view that the collections held by public museums and galleries as kaitiaki for all our people should not be subject to the new fire service levy. "We are asking for an exemption from the fire service levy for these collections," says Tocker. "We are very aware of risk and most museums have excellent prevention systems and disaster preparation."

"There is also a difficulty in establishing the value of collections," says Tocker. "Many museum and gallery items are unique, irreplaceable, and could never be sold so have no meaningful market value. We just want to look after them and make sure they are part of our future as well as our past."

ENDS

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