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■ Frequently asked questions: Q&A Q1: Have tax revenues increased in the Town of Kutchan because condos and
chalets have increased in the Hirafu area? 【Answer】 1) The property acquisition tax, which
is borne by the property owner when he/she purchases a new property, is not a
town tax but a prefectural tax. The revenues don't go to the Town of Kutchan. 2) Town taxes raised in the Hirafu area Fixed property taxes
(or koteishisanzei): 223 million yen Local
inhabitant
taxes
(or juminzei): 6.1 million yen 3) The registered residents of the
town pay the local inhabitant tax regardless of nationality: however, absent
property owners do not fully pay
that tax. Under the Japanese taxation system, tax revenues for the town don't
increase even when tourists increase. Therefore, our recent increase in
overseas tourists has not resulted in increased tax revenues for the town. 4) The proposed Hirafu Resort CID/BID
is a system in which CID/BID fees paid by Hirafu property owners are used
exclusively for Hirafu. Q2: What projects is the town conducting in the Hirafu area, and how much
does the town spend there in investment and assistance? 【Answer】 •
The FY
2012 budget is as follows: •
Subsidies
for street light electricity cost: 0.6 mil. yen •
Infrastructure
investment by 30-year loans •
Internet
optical fibre: 32 mil. yen •
Water
supply/sewerage systems: 3 bill.
yen Q3: Why doesn't the town bear the entire cost of electricity for street
lights? 【Answer】 •
The
street lights in the Hirafu area are so-called "bohan-to" lights. Every such light is installed at the request
of a local resident. Therefore the local residents are responsible for paying
the electricity cost. •
However,
because such street lights are not exclusively used by the local resident but
also by others who walk on the road, the street lights benefit the public.
Therefore, the town subsidizes a part of the electricity cost. •
The
street lights on a large road are called doro-shomei,
and these are installed for traffic safety. They're installed by the town and
the entire electricity cost is borne by the town. Q4: Why doesn't the town pick up cans, bottles and other street litter discarded by pedestrians,
and clean roads and parks? 【Answer】 •
The
prefectural government and the town government clean and trim grass along the
arterial prefectural roads and town roads. •
Because
Hirafu is a resort area, the local business owners and residents voluntary
clean and pick discarded bottles, cans and
litter from the roads occasionally and every spring after the
snow melts as
a "Hirafu Clean-up Project." •
Hirafu
Chuo Park has been developed and maintained by the town, including cleaning and
mowing. •
The
chonaikai buys flower pots and plants them in the flower bed. •
Volunteers from Hirafu Shibu of the Kutchan
Tourism Association clean the pond. •
In
this way, Hirafu residents and tourism businesses have been voluntary working
to maintain and upgrade Hirafu as a resort area. Q5: Does a vacant plot owner on the Hirafu-zaka St. have to pay a share of
road heating electricity cost? 【Answer】 •
The
local share of the road heating electricity cost covers 1.5 m width out of the
3.5 m sidewalk
width. The local share is estimated to be 6 million yen per year. •
Because
the Town of Kutchan owns about 40% of the land fronting on Hirafu-zaka Street,
the committee has been discussing whether to request that the town bear
about 40% of the local share of road heating electricity cost (1.5 m width sidewalk
portion). The remaining 60% of electricity cost would be borne by the local
community. •
Nothing
has been decided on the sharing method of that 60% electricity cost among
locals. Q6: I have a vacant plot in Hirafu. Do I need to pay for CID fee for my
plot? 【Answer】 •
Because
in Hirafu the residents and businesses who have been contributing to maintain
Hirafu’s resort environment have been decreasing, it has become very difficult
to collect sufficient contributions of money and labour. Discussions have been
made to collect contributions from a wide range of property owners; however, we
have not decided the systems/methods to collect CID fees for CID yet. Q7: Will Hirafu CID fees be exclusively used for community improvement purposes? 【Answer】 - Main CID projects are: - Maintaining street lights
(incl. electricity, installation, repair) - Cleaning the region
(picking up litter, sweeping away leaves at Hirafu-zaka St.) and beautifying
parks/streets with flowerbeds/pots - Supporting community
events - Bearing a part of the
administrative expense of Hirafu Resort CID/BID organization. Q8: Why were the Chonaikai
#1 - #3 areas selected for the
BID area? 【Answer】 - Because tourists accommodations and
other tourism facilities predominate there. Q9: Why can businesses in
Chonaikai #4 and the Kabayama Chonaikai choose whether to join the BID? 【Answer】 •
Because
Chonaikai #4 and Kabayama Chonaikai have many members and are well operated,
we're planning to ask the chairpersons of the chonaikais to discuss with the
chonaikai members about joining the CID. Q10: Businesses
in downtown
Kutchan have benefitted
from the increases in
tourists to
Hirafu, so
don't they have an obligation to pay BID fees? 【Answer】 •
The
Hirafu BID aims to promote the businesses in the BID designated area.
Therefore, business owners in other areas cannot be regular BID members; thus, they have no obligation to
bear the BID fees. Q11: Why doesn’t the Town
of Kutchan increase services in the Hirafu area,
because the tax revenues should have increased
from the increase in condos and chalets in the
Hirafu area? 【Answer】 •
The
fixed property
taxes and
other local taxes are used for all the services and projects of the Town of
Kutchan, such as education and social welfare. The taxes are NOT directly used
for Hirafu-specific local services and projects. In the local government budget
system, local taxes from a specific area are NOT directly used for the
area-specific local services and projects. •
In
FY 2011, the Town spent 25 mil. yen on snow removal/hauling, and 6.7 mill.
yen on Internet-related maintenance, such
as that for optical fibre. Also, the Town has invested more than 3 bill. yen (excluding national government subsidies) in water supply/sewage
systems. For
the Hirafu-zaka Street Renovation (the Town's portion of the project), the Town
invested 70 mil. yen in FY 2012 (From 2011 through the completion of the
project, the investment will be much more.) Q12: What was the process whereby
the locals agreed to bear part of the sidewalk road heating electricity cost? 【Answer】 •
In
2007, the Association for the Promotion of Hirafu-zaka St. Renovation was organized
to request that a
sidewalk road-heating system and cable-boxes for burying electric/telephone cables
be included in the renovation project for the Hirafu-zaka
St. The
members were local residents, businesses and other organizations. •
It
was agreed that the Hokkaido Prefectural Government would install road-heating only
on the carriageway where Hirafu-zaka St. intersects with other streets and on 1.5 m width of sidewalks, and that
the locals (including
the Town of Kutchan) would
bear the electricity cost for
the 1.5 m width of sidewalks. •
When
the explanation meeting was hosted by the Hokkaido Prefectural Government in
2010, locals
requested that
the sidewalk road heating width be increased from 1.5 m to 3.5 m
(full-width) and the carriageway road heating be extended
from just the
intersections to the entire
length of Hirafu-zaka St. •
Finally,
the Hokkaido Prefectural Government agreed to increase their share of road
heating electricity cost while the share of road heating electricity cost borne
by locals was
kept the same
as originally planned: 1.5 m width of the
sidewalks. The
renovation project started in 2011. Q13: Do the tourism businesses in the Hirafu area need to bear the BID fees for BID in addition to the several
fees they currently pay, such as fees for the
chonaikai, NPB (Niseko Promotion
Board), Hirafu Shibu (the Hirafu
Branch of the Kutchan Tourism Association)? 【Answer】 •
We
have been working to NOT significantly increase the total amount of fees borne
by businesses, through discussions and coordination with relevant organizations
on review of their roles and duplicated expenses/projects. Q14: How will you contact the
absent property owners, such as those who own condos? 【Answer】 •
Currently,
over 80% of the buildings
in Hirafu are owned by non-resident owners. We will ask the
assistance of their tax agents and property management
companies to find their contact addresses and e-mails. Q15: How much is the total budget of the BID? What projects will be conduced by
the BID? 【Answer】 •
The introduction of a BID will make the Hirafu area the first
business area in Japan to have such a system. •
The
project planning and the budget of the BID will be finally decided by locals
when the system is introduced to Hirafu. Currently, the Niseko
Hirafu BID Preparatory Committee has been discussing the proposal
of a framework
for the
BID system. •
The
committee understands that
the following projects have high priority: - Area cleaning/beautification - Event marketing to draw
visitors to Hirafu (currently done by Hirafu Shibu and the NPB) - Information dissemination
via Web/SNS (currently done by the NPB) - Installation of the area
guide signs (currently done by the NPB) - Bearing of a part of electricity cost
for Hirafu-zaka St.
sidewalk road heating Q16: How much in BID fees is
charged to businesses? 【Answer】 •
Currently,
various fee systems are being simulated.
The principles of the fee
allocation method are sustainability, transparency and fairness. <Link to the BID fees> Q17: What would happen if
the BID were to find an accommodations
being operated illegally? 【Answer】 •
In the event that the BID found accommodations
being operated illegally,
the BID would instruct the operator
on how to
register with the
public health centre and would assist to reconciling
the legal
irregularity. Q18: I’ve never
received rent or fees for letting others
use my condo/chalet. Would I need to
pay the BID fees? 【Answer】 •
Assuming certain conditions are met, your condo/chalet would be regarded as a "residence," and it
would be
exempted from BID fees. <Link
to the BID fees> Q19: I rent out rooms in my property by monthly contract. Would
I need to pay the BID fees? 【Answer】 •
Assuming certain conditions are met, your condo/chalet would be regarded as a "residence," and it
would be exempted
from the BID fees. <Link
to the BID fees> Q20: When will the CID/BID systems be introduced? 【Answer】 •
At the earliest,
the CID/BID could be introduced to the Hirafu area in April 2014. •
The process: 1) the Niseko
Hirafu CID/BID Preparatory Committee will first make
a proposal to the Town of Kutchan; 2) The
Town will modify the proposal to meet the legal requirements and will propose that the
Town Council enact a CID/BID municipal
law; 3) Only then
will the
Town Council make deliberations and approve the
proposed law. |