Water rate hike for Tasman properties

Tasman district property owners at the northern end of Mt Heslington Rd and those on the Eighty Eight Valley rural water supply face a rates hike next year after more than 30 years of undercharging.

A Tasman District Council review of water supply rates identified that 17 properties at the northern end of Mt Heslington Rd are on the Brightwater scheme and have been undercharged since the early 1980s.

In addition, the money they have been paying has been going into the wrong account.

The Brightwater scheme is part of the council’s urban water club but the money from the Mt Heslington Rd ratepayers has been paid into the Eighty Eight Valley rural supply account. Total water supply rates collected in 2016-17 for these properties was $13,811.99. If they’d been rated correctly, the total collected would have been $37,562.18 – more than twice as much.

In a report, TDC utilities manager Mike Schruer says it appears that in the early 1980s, it was discovered it was not possible to service the northern end of Mt Heslington Rd from the Eighty Eight Valley water supply because of the elevation of the pipe route and the limited capacity of the pipes.

‘‘An isolation valve was installed in 1981 at the high point separating the two schemes,’’ Schruer says.

‘‘Consequently, this area has been serviced from the Brightwater water supply but the users have been charged the Eighty Eight Valley water supply rates and the revenue has been paid into that account, rather than into the account of the water club, which supplies the water.’’

Schruer said rates had changed over the years so the 2016-17 gap of more than $23,000 between the revenue collected and what should have been collected could not be applied over the previous 36 years.

There would be no retrospective adjustment of the rates but the change would also affect the ratepayers of the Eighty Eight Valley water scheme who had effectively been subsidised by the urban water club.

The rate change is due to take effect in July.