Rates hike cut in half to ease Covid-19 pain
Tararua ratepayers will get some relief from coronavirus-crisis concerns as a planned rates increase in the district is slashed in half.
The Tararua District Council has set an average rates increase of 2.5 per cent for the 2020-2021 financial year, down from the 5.97 per cent in the draft Annual Plan.
At a council meeting this week mayor Tracey Collis said ratepayers and the district economy took two big hits in quick succession in the first half of the year.
Firstly, water shortages worsened into a major drought by early March.
Then the coronvairus lockdown hit.
Council staff completely overhauled the planned budget in just a few weeks to shift the burden from ratepayers as much as possible, she said.
Collis said many of the district’s farmers were struggling after having to cull livestock and pay through the nose for extra feed, while harvesting a lower yield on their crops.
Other residents were in a tight spot too because of the effect the lockdown had on businesses and people’s pay.
Council financial manager Cameron Mckay said more than 90 per cent of ratepayers would see a rates increase of less than $100.
The council was looking at a relatively high rates increase before coronavirus hit, to meet high demand for services from a growing population and upgrading its water services to meet new government safety standards.
The council’s external debt has hit $43 million, $13m more than accounted for in the Long-term Plan – largely due to significant road repairs after a series of heavy rain and snow storms in 2018.
Mckay said those needs had to be balanced against the significant change in ratepayers’ circumstances.
Where possible the council had pushed back expensive projects into the next financial year and brought forward others deemed most likely to stimulate economic growth and create jobs.
The council has also applied for $9.2m from the Government’s shovel-ready fund for two major projects, upgrading Route 52 and replacing the district’s asbestos cement pipes.
The two projects would cost $27.6m over three years and if the applications were not successful they would be deferred to the next financial year, Mckay said