Council decides to lift rates by 7.5%
WAIMATE ratepayers are facing a rates rise of more than 7%.
The Waimate District Council considered its draft budget for the 202324 year and agreed on an overall rates increase of 7.54%.
Like the rest of New Zealand, the Waimate council is also facing challenges with inflationary pressures, rising interest rates, supply issues and staff shortages.
The overall rates increase of 7.54%, which was 0.74% higher than the 6.8% forecast in the 202131 longterm plan (LTP), accounts for increases in asset replacement and management, compliance costs and rising employment costs, the council said in a statement.
The higher increase will enable the council to push ahead with longawaited projects such as the library extension and the denitrification plant in Glenavy, among others.
It will also help the council to ensure that infrastructure assets such as water supply and roads, along with community facilities and parks, were well maintained with timely renewals and upgrades to futureproof them.
The council also continued to smooth the impact of a reduction in dividend income from its Alpine Energy investment and increased costs of the waste management contract. Smoothing lessens the need for large increases in rates in any single year and is spread over multiple years.
The current cost of borrowing indicated an interest rate of 5.45%, a significant increase from the forecast 3% in the LTP. Due to delayed borrowing drawdowns next year, the increase would amount to additional interest servicing costs of $41,000.
The council said it had minimised the rates rise as much as possible by using reserves where applicable. Some council fees and charges in relation to building consents, cemeteries, roading and new water connections would also rise to ensure users fairly paid for the benefit they received, which reduces the cost impact on rates.
The 7.54% rates increase is an overall average and individual properties would vary based on their targeted rates and services and movement in capital value from the 2022 property revaluations.
Waimate Mayor Craig Rowley said the proposed rates increase was a result of a detailed review of all budget items and was in line with the rate of inflation.
‘‘We wanted to ensure we could continue to provide our core functions without cutting services, and our planned infrastructure upgrades can move ahead."
The draft 202324 annual plan will be presented for adoption at the council’s meeting on June 20.