The Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) wants to increase levies but the Government has all but ruled that out.
Last year levies were increased, but not by as much as ACC wanted. However, there was still strong public opposition and protests to the rises.
ACC today put out proposed increases for consultation. They were:
• An average 2.5 percent increase for motor vehicles to keep up with inflation;
• 6.7 percent in the earners' account (paid by all earners). ACC said the increase was needed because reserves were lower in that account but no further increase would be needed for some years.
ACC Minister Nick Smith said the Government was "highly unlikely" to agree to any levy increases following the consultation process.
"The Government is very conscious of the financial pressure families and businesses are under and believes there is no justification for increasing ACC levies at this time," he said.
"The turnaround in ACC's finances means the solvency of all accounts is improving and the issue is now down to how quickly we get to full funding and how cautious we need to be about future projected increases.
"ACC's focus needs to be on managing costs rather than simply passing on more costs through further levy increases."
Dr Smith said ACC's board was required to consult on any proposed levy changes each year, it was up to the Government whether they went ahead or not.
"The Government is not of a mind to support these further increases."
ACC board chairman John Judge said the proposed increases were more modest than earlier but were necessary.
"It's important to remember that ACC has a significant deficit (currently $10.3 billion) and so there's still some catching up to do. We're mandated to have ACC fully funded by 2019 and achieving that goal becomes more problematic without the increases we're proposing.
"Levy increases are never welcome but I believe that if people can see the rationale for them and the 'light at the end of the tunnel' then they become much more palatable," Mr Judge said.
A spokesman for ACC told NZPA that proposing increases and consulting on that was "business as usual" for the organisation.
"It's absolutely his (Dr Smith's) prerogative to agree or not agree to them."
