Coast council ‘keeps faith’ and adjusts rates take
From local democracy reporter Brendon McMahon:
New property valuations would have netted the West Coast Regional Council an extra $700,000 - a 17% rates yield on top of the 10% increase already approved this financial year.
Instead, the council decided last night to "keep faith" with the 10% increase it had notified in the annual plan, and to make internal adjustments to contain what might have been a whopping 27% rates increase.
Last year the council imposed a 30% increase on West Coast ratepayers.
Councillor John Hill, of Buller, asked for clarification that if the council did nothing the rates would increase a further 17%.
Acting corporate services manager Marc Ferguson confirmed that, noting that would also be additional to the 10% already struck in the annual plan.
Quotable Value valuations effective from July 1 had unexpectedly affected the regional council's projected yield for the 2022-23 rates strike, coming just two days after councillors set a 10% increase. The new valuations automatically bumped that up 15% which, with other adjustments, would have resulted in the extra 17%.
Ferguson said if staff had applied the factors set out in the annual plan "it would have reflected a 17% increase," or about $700,000 of extra income.
The main increases in the region would have been for the Grey district, by about 32%, compared to 2 to 3% for Westland and Buller districts.
Ferguson said they were conscious of the current economic environment for ratepayers and the recommendation was to "keep the yield as it was originally".
Councillors agreed, and councillor Laura Coll-McLaughlin, of Buller, summed it up: "We needed a certain budget, and it was just about how we got there (by adjusting) the machinery behind the scenes, and not taking more than what we intended".
Coll-McLaughlin suggested the council in future revisit the differential applied for each of the three districts.
She noted the Grey district represented about 43% of the capital values for the entire region yet it appeared the actual differential applied currently was set at about 39%.
Ferguson said there might an historical basis, "possibly linked to population in each of the areas".
Coll-McLaughlin said she saw that Westland had 30% of the capital value but noted it only had 20% of the region's population.
Councillor Peter Ewen noted the last 'on-line' census, considered to be "a bit of a fiasco" might be one factor in the differential settings.
"The figures we got for the West Coast would not be that accurate, I would think."
*Public interest journalism funded by NZ On Air
⚠️ 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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