CDC votes for facilitybased changes to rates boundaries

THE Clutha District Council voted yesterday to change rates boundaries relating to community facilities, in order to more fairly distribute associated costs.

The proposal to move to six, districtwide, rateable ‘‘communities of interest’’ from the prior pertown/uniform rural system was debated hotly by councillors at yesterday’s longterm plan decisionmaking meeting, before being passed by 10 votes to three.

Under the current system, Clutha’s 11 urban centres are individually rated according to their facilities, such as pools, halls, parks and sportsgrounds. Other properties are designated ‘‘rural’’ and pay a uniform rate based on their property value.

Last month Clutha Mayor Bryan Cadogan said he believed the new system, where multiple communities sharing common facilities would share related costs, would be a more equitable way of distributing those costs.

Mr Cadogan reiterated that opinion at yesterday’s meeting, but Cr John Cochrane disagreed over its fairness.

‘‘The rural community already pays significant levels of rates, with our rating base all about rural roads,’’ he said.

‘‘Townspeople can use those roads at any time, but rural residents still pay the lion’s share.’’

The principle that urban ratepayers should pay the majority of rates for urban facilities should apply in turn, he believed.

‘‘We probably do need a fairer system for allocating these rates, but I don’t believe this is the way to do it. Let’s get it right first time after we’ve done further work.’’

Cr John Herbert voiced support for Cr Cochrane’s position.

‘‘I agree the current system isn’t fair, nor this proposal, so I’d like to support the recommendation that we do further work for the next annual plan,’’ he said.

Cr Gaynor Finch also spoke in support of the status quo.

Cr Hilary McNab pointed out that few rural residents had spoken up against the new proposal during consultation.

‘‘If rural people are so anti moving the boundaries, why haven’t they submitted to say so?’’ she said.

Cr Bruce Vollweiler and others spoke in favour of the move to shared ‘‘communities of interest’’.

‘‘Living in rural Waihola, I look towards Milton for community facilities of this sort. If we don’t have vibrant facilities in our towns, properly paid for, our rural communities suffer,’’ Cr Vollweiler said.

Sample properties in the longterm plan consultation document showed most urban communities benefiting from the proposal with savings of $49 to $291 for 201819.

Farmers and lifestylers were expected to pick up increases ranging from $184 to $286.