West Coast ratepayers may face 16.4% increase
By local democracy reporter Brendon McMahon:
The West Coast Regional Council is projecting a 16.42% rates increase for 2023-24.
That increase is mainly attributed to an explosion in Te Tai o Poutini Plan costs as it moves towards the formal hearing stage and the recommendation is that council double the rates component for the combined district plan when the draft annual plan is debated at an extraordinary meeting tomorrow in Paroa.
Council is projecting an operating funding deficit of more than $1.1 million in the coming year.
The increase under the draft 2023-24 annual plan is in line with year three of council’s 2021-31 long-term plan (LTP), which allows a 10% rates increase, and therefore a new round of public consultation was not mandatory.
However, the budget has been prepared in a context of “increasing pressures” on the ability of council to fund and deliver the projected 10 percent rates increase plus the cost of inflation, acting corporate services manager Katherine Harbrow says in the agenda.
“The LTP year 2 had projected a general rate 10 percent rate increase plus inflation however the 2022-23 Annual Plan that was adopted in September 2022 absorbed the inflation.
“This means that to meet the levels of service the general rate - excluding uniform charges - is now projected at an 16.42% increase for the 2023-24 Annual Plan.”
Rating differentials to be applied for the more than 20 individual river and coastal rating districts across the region where they had met - had discussed the rating required to complete the necessary maintenance, borrowing and capital expenditure in 2023-24.
But the burden of the costs for the combined district plan from the 2019 Order in Council for council to shoulder the costs for preparing, notifying, adopting, periodically amending, and reviewing the combined TTPP is telling however.
The council was ordered to fund it “by a rate set in relation to all rateable land” regionally and apart from an initial $240,000 from the Government, it has received no other help.
The three districts who are still funding their current operable district plans until the TTPP is passed do not contribute.
“The costs for the TTPP in 2023-24 are higher than expected in the long-term plan due to inflation pressure and under-budgeting of the hearing costs,” Harbrow’s report says.
As a result the TTPP rate component should “be doubled” to $1m from $500,000 this coming financial year, and again in 2024-25.
“The balance of the funding required in 2023-24 will be borrowed, unless alternative funding can be found. Alternative funding options are being followed up by staff.”
Overall, council is expecting subsidies and grants revenue of $16,514.741 in 2023-24 including money allocated via various central government streams for the infrastructure projects.
Its total revenue is expected to be $37.5m, with rates making up $10.8m of that.
The report notes the revenue included in the 2021-31 LTP “was too ambitious” and the forecast revenue is based on the current volumes of consents and compliance work.
Meanwhile, overhead costs had been reviewed so that external services such as council’s community resilience function bore a share of the internal overheads borne by IT, human resources, corporate services, property, and vehicle fleet.
“The method was changed to ensure all external services received a fair share of the costs in relation to their employee costs and fleet usage.”
Council’s Vector Control Services business unit has subsidies and grants revenue of $5.5m to cover expenditure and is projected to make a $618,692 return to council, after overheads.
*Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
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A reminder this hunting season
As thousands of hunters are making their plans for autumn – the Roar – recreational firearms groups are urging hunters to always be 100% sure of their targets.
Te Tari Pureke - Firearms Safety Authority NZ, which chairs the Recreational Firearms Users Group, has begun a public information campaign reminding hunters everywhere of Rule #4 of the Firearms Safety Code: to identify their target beyond all doubt.
Director Communities and Corporate, Mike McIlraith, says there is an estimated 50,000-60,000 New Zealanders involved in big game animal hunting each year, and the Roar is the key event for many hunters each year.
“The Roar is a fantastic time of year for hunters to get out into the hills after a trophy animal but hunting safely and making sure everyone gets home in one piece, still must be the most important goal of every trip,” says Mike McIlraith.
“The consequences of not fully identifying your target beyond all doubt can be catastrophic. Our message to hunters is a really simple one: If you are not sure, then don’t shoot.”
Mike McIlraith says while hunting fatalities are thankfully rare, research has shown that misidentification of the target is the largest firearms related risk to New Zealand deer hunters, and 80% of the time this involves members of the same hunting group.
The Authority says hunters should not feel pressured to take a shot: “Instead, hunters should take the time to analyse their target, wait and see if it is a hind or stag, how old is the animal, how many points does its antlers have? Identifying your target means never firing at sound, shape, colour or movement alone.”
Mike McIlraith says good hunters will slow down, and run through some simple mental checks:
- Can I see the whole animal, or could this be another hunter?
- Where are my hunting companions – could this be them or someone else?
- How much of the animal can you see, if it is a hind or stag, how old is the animal, how - many points does its antlers have?
“Taking a little extra time to identify your target and check the firing zone is the key to safer hunting. No meat or no trophy is better than no mate,” he says.
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