Coast council to keep ‘faith’ over rates
From local democracy reporter Brendon McMahon:
The West Coast Regional Council says it intends to keep "good faith" with ratepayers and not impose a further rates increase based on new capital valuations for the region.
New property valuations came in higher than expected in the 2022-23 annual plan.
The council yesterday gave notice it will reset its rates based on a yield increase of 17% against that anticipated in the 2022-23 Annual Plan from revised capital values for the region. It has called an extraordinary meeting for September 21, six days after the postal vote begins for this year's local body election.
However, it says the new valuation yield will not be reflected in this year's rates, with the "status quo" to remain.
The new valuations from QV arrived on July 1, two days after the council approved the rates rise based on what it had consulted the public with in the annual plan.
On June 28 the council approved a 10% rates increase for this financial year, but excluded a planned inflation adjustment of 2.3% which had been signalled in the long-term plan.
Last year, West Coast Regional Council rates went up 30%.
The public notice for the extraordinary meeting said the estimated rateable capital value of the West Coast had increased 15% above that used to set the general rate in June.
Chief executive Heather Mabin said the council had to set its rates to meet the statutory timeframe by the end of June, although it was aware there might also be a variation with the capital value baseline.
There had been a delay at council in being able to run the new capital valuations numbers due to an accounting system changeover at the council, she said.
As it turned out the new QV values "were much different" from what was expected, Mabin said.
Acting corporate services manager Marc Ferguson said they had done rates modelling before the system upgrade, but once the revised values were received some capital valuations had increased by as much as $10 for every $100.
Regardless of the council's intention not to pass on the yield increase this time it was required to give notice to reset the rates based on the adjusted QV values, he said.
The council proposed "in good faith" to maintain what it had previously set but against the new capital value yield figure.
"We're having to stick with the original rates amount posted in the annual plan ... it's the status quo," Ferguson said.
"It's not about us making extra money with the extra QV money."
However, notification of the first rates instalment would probably be pushed out to the end of October.
⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️
It's a message we share time and time again, and this year, we're calling on you to help us spread that message further.
Did you know that calls to SPCA about dogs left inside hot cars made up a whopping 11% of all welfare calls last summer? This is a completely preventable issue, and one which is causing hundreds of dogs (often loved pets) to suffer.
Here are some quick facts to share with the dog owners in your life:
👉 The temperature inside a car can heat to over 50°C in less than 15 minutes.
👉 Parking in the shade and cracking windows does little to help on a warm day. Dogs rely on panting to keep cool, which they can't do in a hot car.
👉 This puts dogs at a high risk of heatstroke - a serious condition for dogs, with a mortality rate between 39%-50%.
👉 It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act to leave a dog in a hot vehicle if they are showing signs of heat stress. You can be fined, and prosecuted.
SPCA has created downloadable resources to help you spread the message even further. Posters, a flyer, and a social media tile can be downloaded from our website here: www.spca.nz...
We encourage you to use these - and ask your local businesses to display the posters if they can. Flyers can be kept in your car and handed out as needed.
This is a community problem, and one we cannot solve alone. Help us to prevent more tragedies this summer by sharing this post.
On behalf of the animals - thank you ❤️
Poll: Would you rather: Christmas in summer forever or winter forever?
Just a bit of a fun poll to get you thinking.
If you had to live out your Christmas days, would you prefer it was a summer Christmas or a winter Christmas?
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62.2% Summer
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36.3% Winter
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1.5% Other - I'll share below
Worst Xmas ever?
There's a a lot of planning that goes into Christmas day and sometimes things just don't go to plan. But it can be a good thing - a family mishap or hilarious memory that you can laugh about in Christmases to come.
Whether you burnt the dinner or were stranded at an airport...
Share your Christmas mishaps below!
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