Average rates may drop
20 May 2015
Waipa District Council has settled on an average annual rates increase over 10 years of around 2.3 per cent - but say that may yet reduce based on new growth figures.
Deliberations on the council's draft 10-year plan have finished and the plan will be formally signed off at the end of June. Councillors have made a number of changes to their original proposals released to the public for feedback in April. Nearly 500 submissions on the draft plan were received.
Council has reduced the initial impact of its new Uniform Annual General Charge (UAGC), a fixed charge to be applied to every separately used part of a property. Following submissions from retirement villages and rural ratepayers, the impact of the UAGC will be reduced by 25 per cent in year one. Council will still phase the new rate in over six years as planned.
The proposal to increase the percentage of rates based on the capital value of a property has also changed following public feedback. While a greater proportion of a rates bill will be based on the capital value of a property, it will be less than originally proposed.
New growth figures indicate that Waipa district is growing faster than originally thought with the district's population now potentially reaching 75,000 by 2063. Chief financial officer Ken Morris said these figures and their financial implications were now being analysed.
It is likely to mean that the total average annual rates increase will drop from 2.3 per cent, even with some additional projects added into the plan. But those numbers are still being worked through, he said.
Proposals which remain unchanged from the council's consultation document include plans to spend more than $400,000 to develop Waipuke Park, up river from the Mighty River Domain. The Council has also agreed to play a greater role in maintaining public rural drains across the district, at an annual cost of around $300,000.
All media enquiries, contact Jeanette Tyrrell (on behalf of council) 027 5077 599