Alongside our Long-Term Plan Consultation, we are also seeking feedback on the proposed changes to our Revenue and Financing Policy, Rates Postponement Policy, Rates Remission Policy and Policy on the Remission and Postponement of Rates on Māori Freehold Land; and an increase in fees and charges to reflect increasing costs and inflation.
Fees and charges
The council charges user fees for a number of its services. The costs to provide council services have increased and we are proposing to increase some of our fees and charges to reflect this. The proposed increases would help to ensure that users pay the actual and reasonable costs for a service and prevent any cost increases from being passed on to the general rates bill.
We are proposing to increase the following fees by 6%:
-
Building consents,
-
Resource consents,
-
Health registration,
-
Cemetery fees,
-
Venues.
We are also proposing to increase some of our Splash Centre fees. However, because these fees have not been increased for many years, the proposed cost increases range from around 0-25%. It is proposed to increase entry fees by .50c for adults and children, but no increases are proposed for pre-school aged entry.
We are also proposing a few extra changes to our fees and charges for 2024/25, including the addition of a sliding scale fee for using the council’s parks and open spaces (which we consulted on with community in 2023), and a new fee to cover the costs of high productivity motor vehicle assessments.
You can read more about all of these proposed changes in the ‘Statement of Proposal’ document here(PDF, 574KB).
Revenue and Financing Policy
The council’s Revenue and Financing policy sets out the rationale for how each of the council's activities will be funded. The policy describes who benefits from council activities, the community outcomes associated with them and how each activity should be funded – i.e. some activities may be funded primarily from general rates, while others may be funded through targeted rates, user fees or other funding sources.
Minor changes proposed to this policy include:
(a) Realignment of activities/ activity names and community outcome assessments with the draft Long-Term Plan 2024-2034,
(b) Amendment of Durie Hill elevator and Aquatics activities because some or all of the user fees for these activities are now an income stream for the council,
(c) Introduction of development contributions as a funding mechanism for libraries, cemeteries and Sarjeant Gallery,
(d) Legislatively required additions to the policy related to the Te Ture Whenua Māori Act 1993.
More information about the changes to this policy can be found in the following:
Revenue and Financing Policy(PDF, 756KB)
Funding Needs Analyses(PDF, 1MB)
Download a printable submission form for fees and charges and revenue and financing policy(PDF, 170KB)
Rates Remission and Postponement Policies
We are proposing some minor changes to the Rates Postponement Policy, Rates Remission Policy and Policy on the Remission and Postponement of Rates on Māori Freehold Land. These policies lay out the criteria for rates postponement (a delay in the payment of rates) or rates remission (a reduction to the amount of rates to be paid).
Three changes to these policies are proposed.
The first of these proposed changes is to amend the Rates Remission Policy to allow rates relief for multi-unit development owners who are able to provide an alternative plan for disposing of household recycling and food scraps. The other two changes proposed are around removing rates relief from COVID-19 as it is no longer applicable and meeting legislative requirements to incorporate the principles of Te Ture Whenua Māori Act 1993 to all three policies.
More information about the changes to these policies can be found in the following:
Draft Rates Remission Policy(PDF, 212KB)
Draft Policy - Remission and Postponement of Rates on Māori Freehold Land(PDF, 211KB)
Draft Rates Postponement Policy(PDF, 180KB)
Download a printable submission form for remission and postponement draft policies(PDF, 172KB)
How to have your say
Read the Long-Term Plan Consultation Document
(PDF, 12MB)