District council ‘tone deaf’
The Southland District Council has been accused of being ‘‘tone deaf’’, given property owners in 23 of its 27 townships face possible average rates hikes in excess of 10 per cent in the year after Covid-19.
The council has proposed to increase its overall rates take from $49.53 million to $54.55m in 2021-22, a 10.15 per cent increase that will help pay for its ageing infrastructure, including road and bridge repairs.
However, figures released to Stuff by the council show most township areas across the district actually face higher average increases, some nearly twice that amount, if the plan is approved following public consultation.
Among the hardest hit will be Gorge Road [19 per cent or $387 increase]; Nightcaps [18 per cent or $430 increase]; Stewart Island [18 per cent or $344; Orepuki [17 per cent or $197]; Tuatapere [17 per cent or $431]; Ohai [17 per cent or $387] and Tokanui [17 per cent or $330].
At the other end of the scale, Thornbury faces an average 4 per cent, or $64 increase; Browns a 5 per cent increase [$88], and Woodlands a 6 per cent increase [$98].
Ohai resident Asha Carr said she believed the council was tone deaf to propose such high hikes for many people, given some were already struggling financially and with stress due to losing jobs during Covid.
Residents of small towns spoken to by Stuff thought the increases were a mixture of ridiculous and unjustified.
When it comes to all the properties in the entire Southland District [urban and rural], 51 per cent, or about 9800 properties, face rates increases of between 10 and 20 per cent if the 10.15 option proceeds, council figures show.
Southland district mayor Gary Tong declined to comment in detail, as he believes he could be seen to have a bias ahead of the public submission process which precedes the council making its final rates decision.
However, he said residents required an appropriate and safe level of service with roading, water, footpaths, playgrounds and more, while all councillors were also aware of the pressure a number of residents were under.
The council has previously said it would be impossible to find the money needed to repair and replace the district’s ageing infrastructure, including roads and bridges, without increasing rates substantially.
The council’s chief financial officer, Anne Robson, said the council had received 260 submissions to its Long Term Plan which would be considered when the final rates decision was made.
The rates each household received depended on multiple factors, including the services they received, where they lived and how the rate was charged.
The council had a responsibility to its residents to ensure its services were of the highest standard for their health and wellbeing, and met the levels of service agreed, she said.
The council had previously kept rates lower than needed, acknowledging affordability for ratepayers, but that was no longer sustainable given the scale of work needed over the next 30 years.
‘‘Council has had to raise a number of costs to meet increasing compliance standards, and get the infrastructure and services where they need to be,’’ Robson said.
She encouraged ratepayers on low incomes who were eligible for a rates rebate to apply. Brian McFaul, who lives in Gorge Road, said a 19 per cent average increase would be a strain for several families in the village, though he said the council was in a ‘‘damned if they do and damned if they don’t’’ situation.
‘‘It is not fair at all because it is going to put an awful burden on our ratepayers in Gorge Road ... we will help one another and look after them,’’ McFaul said.
Otautau solo dad Ray McIvor, who purchased his house in the town two months ago, said he had expected about a 5 per cent increase, not 14 which he believed was ridiculous given the services the town got.
Ohai resident Nigel Williams said his current weekly food budget of $45 a week would have to be reduced further if the council proceeded with its 17 per cent average rates increase in his town.
The increase would equate to about $10 extra in rates a week.
‘‘We want to see a different approach taken that eases the strain, this can’t go on.’’