Real costs have to be identified!
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Working Party on Land Administration (WPLA) has published the papers and presentations from the sixth session that was held in Geneva on the 18 to 19 June 2009.
The meeting agenda item 5a included a session on Fees and Charges and the annotated preliminary agenda states:
“11. Fees and charges. A report on fees and charges was approved for publication at the meeting held in Cavtat, Croatia, on 4 October 2008 and will be presented by a consultant (ECE/HBP/WP.7/2009/4). Delegates will be invited to present experiences with the application of fees and charges in their countries. The Working Party may wish to discuss and identify appropriate policies on how best to apply fees and charges, taking into account each country’s legal and socio-economic context.”
The supporting paper for the agenda item 5a on fees and charges is titled:
Guidance and Good Practice for the Application of Fees and Charges for Real Property Cadastre and Registration Services. ECE/HBP/WP.7/2009/4 (15 pages).
The paper includes the following summary:
“During the Working Party on Land Administration’s fifth session it was decided that a study of existing practices should be undertaken on fees and charges for cadastre and registration services in the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) region (ECE/HBP/WP.7/2007/10, para. 24 (b)). The present document is based on the outcomes of a questionnaire discussed during the fifth session that surveyed current government practices in the region (ECE/HBP/WP.7/2007/4). This document’s objectives are to provide guidance and promote good practice in the application of fees and charges in UNECE member States. It elaborates on the questionnaire’s findings on existing knowledge and country experiences by identifying existing trends and principles in financing real property cadastres and registers as well as the factors that influence the setting of fees and charges. The document argues that fees and charges are inextricably linked to cost management and recovery. All these variables are fundamental aspects of the sustainability of land administration in a country.”
The paper refers to both the INSPIRE Directive and the Directive 2003/98/EC on the re-use of public sector information. The paper states:
“36. Directive 2003/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the re-use of public sector information is a useful guide to practice within the EU:
Where charges are made, the total income from supplying and allowing re-use of documents shall not exceed the cost of collection, production, reproduction and dissemination, together with a reasonable return on investment. Charges should be cost-oriented over the appropriate accounting period and calculated in line with the accounting principles applicable to the public sector bodies involved. (Directive 2003/98/EC, Article 6)
37. The Directive does not prevent “the exchange of information between public sector bodies for the exercise of public tasks, whilst other parties are charged for the re-use of the same documents” (Directive 2003/98/EC, preamble, para. 19). This can be interpreted to mean that, except where there is a statutory requirement for the interchange of information, no institution, agency or organization may obtain data, information or services free of charge.”
In Section C. Regulation of fees and charges states:
“57. Information should be available in a form that fulfils customers’ needs and wishes, i.e. what they want and what prices they are prepared to pay taking into consideration cost-recovery principles. Strategies on real property cadastres and registers should be realistic, achievable and based on the needs of the economy and market situation of the individual State.
58. The customer or user should decide what development is needed within the political frameworks that are socially acceptable within the country or area.
59. Some countries have freedom of information acts, but data are not “free”. Payment must come from either the user or from taxation. Except where there are statutory requirements for the free exchange or supply of information, all users should pay for data, information or services.
60. Some specialized register information required by Governments or some minority users may be very expensive to collect and to keep updated. This information may fall outside the general requirements for basic registers. The specialist user should fully fund the collection and maintenance of such data.
61. Before a pricing strategy and the setting of fees and charges is defined, the real costs of the operations concerned have to be identified. The charges should be set to recover costs plus a reasonable return on investment, wherever this is allowed. However, some jurisdictions either restrict or do not support this approach. The availability of financial mechanisms to ensure efficient funding during periods of both low and high market activity makes the administration system more resilient.
62. Subsidies are reasonable when the society at large can be reimbursed through the benefits resulting from the improved registration and cadastral systems. However, when systems are more mature, costs should be fully born by the individual user.
63. It is also recommended that steps should be undertaken to redistribute a similar questionnaire as the one used for the present study, in order to collect the same type of information in five years’ time. This would provide time-adjusted statistics for comparative purposes that could be used to more clearly identify trends.”
The published presentations in agenda item 5a included:
Fees and Charges in Cadastre and Registration - Guidelines and Proposals for Best Practice, presented by Mr. Neil King, United Kingdom (17 slides)
Czech Cadastral and Registration Fees, Examples of Good and Bad Practice, presented by Karel Večeře, Czech Office for Surveying, Mapping and Cadastre (17 slides).
Fees and charges in Croatian Land Administration, presented by Prof.dr.sc.Željko Bačić, Director General, Republic of Croatia State Geodetic Administration (DGU). (21 slides)
Fees and charges: Lithuanian Case, presented by Kestutis Sabaliauskas, Director General, State Enterprise Centre of Registers. (14 slides)
NAPR Service Fees – Case of Georgia, presented by Ekaterina Meskhidze, Head of International Relations Division, National Agency of Public Registry, Ministry of Justice of Georgia. (12 slides)
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