Council fee and charge review a ‘balancing act’ says deputy mayor

Kāpiti Coast District Council has adopted its fees and charges schedule for 2023/24, increasing most fees and charges by 4.2 per cent, in line with local government inflation.

Deputy mayor Lawrence Kirby said reviewing fees and charges each year as part of the Annual Plan process is another balancing act for council.

It was considered over a series of workshops earlier in the year.

“It’s always a challenge finding that happy place between maintaining levels of service and keeping fees and charges affordable for communities.

“While inflation has significantly impacted the cost of delivering our services and facilities — from libraries, pools and parks, through to animal management, community halls and building consents — we’ve done our best to keep changes beyond local government inflation, and to a minimum.

“We know that for many people in our communities every cent counts right now.

“We don’t want our fees to be a barrier for people, we want everyone to be able to access to our pools and libraries, and to be able to come together in our community facilities.

“The few additional changes we’ve had to make include changes to some Waikanae hall hire fees to ensure consistency across our community halls portfolio, a new spectator fee of $2 at the Waikanae Pool (this does not apply to Learn to Swim or adults supervising under 8-year-olds), and updating trade waste volumetric charges to align with the Trade Waste Bylaw 2019.”

About 16 per cent of council’s total operating income comes from user fees and charges.

Many of the services provided by the council, such as swimming pool admissions, are subsidised by ratepayers so that users only pay a portion of the full cost.

The impact of increasing fees and charges reduces the rates increase and vice versa.

The changes to fees and charges contribute to the average rates increase of 7.8 per cent in 2023/24.

The Annual Plan and rates for 2023/24 will go to council for adoption on Thursday, June 29.

Fees and charges are adopted earlier to help streamline the dog registration process.

Council reviews fees and charges as part of its Annual Plan and/or Longterm Plan process. i

For the full schedule of fees and charges for 2023/24, and more information on on the Annual Plan and rates for 2023/24 visit www. kapiticoast.govt.nz/ DeliveringForKapiti.