Rates policy on agenda

INVERCARGILL city councillors will decide today whether to put out for consultation an amended policy that would give ratepayers an extended ability to postpone rates payments.

As a response to the effect of Covid19, proposed amendments to the rates postponement and rates remission policies would combine the rates postponement and rates remission policy into one document as well as creating a new rates postponement scheme to support people experiencing financial hardship as a result of pandemic, epidemic and natural disaster.

It was recommended the council approve them for adoption before consultation.

A report from strategy and policy manager Rhiannon Suter to the committee of council detailed the recommended option that would enable rates postponement for one year, which could be converted to a targeted rate for a period of three years after that.

‘‘All postponed rates will need to be repaid at a future point. The impact of this policy will be on cashflow and not on the ability of council to balance the budget.’’

The second option was to leave the policy unchanged, but the council was advised there ‘‘may be significant numbers of people affected by unemployment or reduction in hours who may struggle to pay their rates’’.

However, provision had been made to allow for $10 million in postponed rates to be funded by debt for the period required.

The amended policy states that applicants of the scheme would have to meet criteria to be considered for rates postponement.

These are that the ratepayer must be the current owner of the rating unit, must have suffered a 20% loss of income as a result of the event and the ratepayer or the ratepayer’s authorised agent must apply to the council on the prescribed form.

The meeting will be held via Zoom and will be uploaded to the council website afterwards.