Mooted rates rise is not that ‘grim’
It’s not as ‘‘grim’’ as it sounds, Environment Canterbury (ECan) says about its proposed 8.9 per cent total rates rise for the
2019-2020 year. Yesterday afternoon the ECan council approved its draft annual plan, which, after consultation and changes, has to be adopted by July 1.
While the suggested 8.9 per cent rise in total rates is 3.8 percentage points higher than the tabled amount in the 2018-2028 Long-Term Plan (LTP), ECan councillors and staff say it’s not as bad as it sounds.
Chairman Steve Lowndes assured those at the council meeting there was ‘‘no fat’’ at ‘‘lean machine’’ ECan.
If the proposed rise goes ahead unchanged, that will amount to another
$25 a year on the rates bill for the owners of a
$570,000 property in Christchurch, an extra $152 a year on a $5.1 million rural property in the Waimakariri district and about $13 a year on a
$250,000 house in Waimate. Public transport, freshwater management, and biodiversity and biosecurity are the winners in the draft plan, with proposed funding increases of $3m, $3.2m and $800,000 respectively.
However, ECan wants to reduce spending on air quality work by about $300,000, saying domestic-heating programmes have led to significantly improved air quality across much of the region.
Spokesman Phil Barclay said the implications for the air quality programme – should the council confirm a reduction – were being worked through.
Cr Peter Scott told the meeting the proposed increase from the
LTP’s 5.1 per cent meant ECan had got itself in ‘‘a really, I guess, potentially ugly position in terms of where we are going to end up’’.
‘‘But there is some legitimate reason around that – one of the big hurdles that we have to jump as councils especially in an election year is how big the rate increase [is].
‘‘I know we’ve got an ugly number in front of us but I do support it and I look forward to the consultation process around it.’’
Lowndes said ‘‘in a sense the figure of 8.9 per cent is an artificial figure’’. ‘‘There are unders and overs, there are targeted rated and all sorts of variations within that figure.
‘‘Our long-term plan forecast a rate increase of 5.1 per cent and on that basis, the increase which we are suggesting is 5.9. In other words, an increase of about
$800,000 on what we have forecast.
‘‘To get from 5.9 to 8.9, we need to separate out 3 per cent, which is for public transport services in the urban areas. So although the figure of 8.9 – the arbitrary figure of 8.9 – might sound significant, we have already consulted on the
3 per cent for public transport and it has been roundly supported.
‘‘So if you take those things into account, what we are proposing is an increase from 5.1 to 5.9. It really isn’t as grim as it looks when you break it down.
‘‘This is a very ‘lean machine’ that we are in governance over. There is no fat here, at all.’’
Consultation on the draft plan begins on Monday and ends on March 19.
Hearings start on April 30 with the council scheduled to adopt the final plan on June 20.
‘‘. . . one of the big hurdles that we have to jump as councils ...is how big the rate increase [is].’’ Cr Peter Scott