Work category 332: Property purchase – local roads

Introduction

This work category A type of activity – not confined to a particular activity class, e.g. new roads (work category 323) appears in:

* activity class 12 – local road improvements
* activity class 13 – state highways improvements provides for the purchase of land by Approved Organisations for local road improvements.

Principles and conditions, where relevant, may be applied to other activity classes

The principles and conditions of property purchase for local roads set out below may be applied to other activities classes, e.g. public transport improvements, walking and cycling improvements, where the Transport Agency has agreed that it will assist the funding for property purchased for land transport purposes prior to it approving funding for the construction/implementation of a project.

Property purchase for other activity classes will be funded under the same work category A type of activity – not confined to a particular activity class, e.g. new roads (work category 323) appears in:

* activity class 12 – local road improvements
* activity class 13 – state highways improvements that will be applied to construction/ implementation of the project, e.g. work category 531 for public transport infrastructure projects.

Examples of qualifying activities

Examples of qualifying activities include, but may not be limited to:

• valuation
• legal surveys
• acquisitions
• compensation.

Other potential activities not shown above should be discussed with the Transport Agency for eligibility.

Funding is subject to the conditions set out below.

Exclusions

Exclusions include:

• property purchase costs of less than $50,000 – these are to be included in the project costs conducted under the appropriate work category A type of activity – not confined to a particular activity class, e.g. new roads (work category 323) appears in:
  
  * activity class 12 – local road improvements
  * activity class 13 – state highways improvements , and
• where an exchange of land occurs between a private landowner and an approved organisation, or where land is vested in an approved organisation by a private owner required to do so without monetary payment for the land, the transaction does not qualify for funding assistance. however, where these involve payment of land transfer fees or stamp duty, these costs can be included as acquisition costs.

Conditions

Conditions include:

• assistance is considered only at the time of the application for construction/ implementation funding assistance, and is based on the greater of the purchase price or current market value
• legalisation surveys Surveys related to the formal acquisition and documentation of land for roads. , including plan fees payable to Terralink, are to be treated as part of the land acquisition cost. No other expenses involved in the legalisation process are eligible for funding assistance
• any payment for Betterment recovered in terms of section 326 of the local government act 1974 shall be a credit to the cost of the project
• all costs must be identified by project and available for audit, and
• a land plan must be available for audit purposes and must indicate the area of land to be purchased and the part that is to be converted to road reserve A legally described area within which facilities such as roads, footpaths That portion of the road reserve set aside for the use of pedestrians only. and associated features may be constructed and maintained for public travel. , with each individual property to be identified on the plan

Funding assistance rate (FAR The usual contribution in percentage terms, that the NZTA augments funding of an approved organisation, for the delivery of an activity or combination of activities. )

The usual funding assistance rate is:

• the Approved Organisation's normal FAR, or
• the Approved Organisation's special purpose road improvements FAR.

Applying for funding approval

Applications for funding approval of property purchase should be made through the 'Improvement activity' module in Transport Investment Online (TIO The NZTA's web-based funding allocation system. ). In most cases, the application will be for the Property phase of an existing project.