ECan proposes one of NZ’s heftiest rates rises
Environment Canterbury (ECan) has floated one of the largest proposed average rates rises in the country – more than 24% – a day after the Christchurch City Council adopted a draft proposal for a 13% rates rise.
Councils nationwide are proposing significant rises as interest rates bite and increasing severe weather calls for more resilience work.
ECan councillors voted 14-2 yesterday to adopt the consultation document for its long-term plan (LTP), which outlines the council's activities, services and finances for the next decade, with councillors Clair McKay and Deon Swiggs voting against the recommendation.
The plan will see ECan spend more than $340 million in the first year, a 26% increase on the $270m programme carried out in 2023-24.
The draft says the council gave “strong consideration“to the financial pressures the community is facing, but previous decisions on flood management and public transport combined with high inflation meant just maintaining current work required a double-digit increase.
The actual impact will differ depending on location and targeted rates, meaning the increase will be between 13% and 27%.
If ECan’s preferred options are adopted, a Christchurch city ratepayer with a $820,000 property would pay $750 in the first year of the plan, while a $1.9m rural property in Hurunui faced a $1030 rates bill for 2024-25, and a $4.76m rural Ashburton property would pay $2681 in rates.
Of the regional council’s three core services – environmental regulation and protection, hazard preparedness and response, and public transport – the latter has the biggest cost.
The council’s preferred public transport option has a $160m price tag for the first year (a total of $542m over three years), and would see the Public Transport
Futures programme improvements delivered within seven years, including upping core bus routes to 10-minute frequencies or better by 2028, with average wait times of five minutes.
Most councillors expressed misgivings about the scale of the proposed rise, but backed the document through the consultation process.
McKay accused her fellow councillors of being “tone deaf”. She criticised the amount of borrowing, and said she was “embarrassed to be associated” with the amount the council sought.
Swiggs also expressed misgivings about debt funding, and criticised the local government funding model in general. “Imagine if Wellington had to budget the way we have to,” he said, commenting on the discrepency in tax take between central and local government.
On Tuesday, the Christchurch City Council voted 13-4 in favour of a draft LTP that proposes an average rates increase of 13.24% from June, followed by 7.76% in the following financial year, and 4.67% the year after.
Consultation on ECan’s draft LTP will run from mid-March to mid-April, with hearings scheduled for the end of April and early May. The council is scheduled to deliberate at the end of May with a view to adopt the plan and set rates in late June.