Popular rates tool back online
12 March 2018
Waipā ratepayers can head online from 15 March to find out exactly what their rates will be for the next 10 years starting 2018/19.
On 15 March Council will relaunch its popular online rates calculator on the website futurewaipa.co.nz. This website will host Council's draft 10-Year Plan consultation document which details major proposals and plans for the coming decade that Council wants feedback on.
10-year plans are revised and adjusted every three years with the community consulted each time. During consultation on the 2015-2025 Plan, the rates calculator, which details exact rates for all Waipa properties, was used more than 1,700 times. Use is expected to increase this year as more people become aware of it and seek a greater say in the Council's plans.
Council's communication and engagement manager Natalie Palmer said the online calculator gives people a clear sense of what the proposals outlined in the draft 10-Year Plan would cost, if they all went ahead.
It takes the guesswork out of it and makes Council's proposals more relevant because households can see what the financial impact might be on them, she said.
We're hoping that people will look at the site, see what's proposed, use the calculator to find out the impact on their rates and then have their say.
Those unable to access the rates calculator online should consider attending a draft 10-Year Plan community event or meeting, Palmer said. There were around 20 community-based opportunities planned which were being widely advertised in local newspapers.
We'll have staff and councilors there and they will be able to go online and let people know immediately what their coming rates might be.
The average rates increase for the coming 2018/19 year (inclusive of anticipated water supply charges) will be 1.87 per cent. As of 1 July, recovery charges for water supply will be removed from the rates bill and billed separately. Without water, the average rates bill will actually decrease by more than five per cent.
Over the decade 2018-2028, the average annual rates increase is set to be 2.23 per cent per year (inclusive of anticipated water supply charges). Not including water supply charges, the average annual rates increase would be about 1.53 per cent.