West Coast rates mistake will see 16,000 bills resent
By local democracy reporter Brendon McMahon:
The West Coast Regional Council is now faced with "a massive task" of resending about 16,000 rates invoices as it cleans up its earlier mistake.
It follows the shock of ratepayers opening their bills early in October to find increases of anywhere up to 100%, after council passed a general rates rise of 16.4% in June.
It later emerged the wrong capital value factor was used to assess rates demands in more than half of the bills sent out in early October.
It mainly affected ratepayers who are within special rating districts for flood protection assets, such as the Greymouth Floodwall.
Chief executive Darryl Lew told the council's Risk and Assurance Committee on Monday that "a complete diagnosis" had been done across all the original invoices.
"We now understand what went wrong and what we need to do to put it right," Lew said.
He said steps were being taken to avoid a repeat of the mess.
"It is critical now ... that we develop an internal control framework around rates generation into the future. One doesn't exist at the moment."
Lew said the council proposed undertaking "quite a complex" mail merge exercise in fresh generation of between 10,000 and 16,000 new rates demands.
At the same time he had implemented "a control procedure and a checking procedure" to ensure everything was right as the new invoices were generated then mailed.
"That is not a trivial task."
Sending new corrected rates demands out could take a couple of weeks, but it would be clearer by the end of Monday, he said.
Lew said council staff were meeting its auditor PricewaterhouseCooper and the contractor who maintained council's rating system this afternoon to work through the practicalities.
He said the computer based rates system used by council was currently used by about other 30 local authorities.
Lew said he was commissioning a new internal control framework for the rates system given it did not have one currently.
Risk and Assurance Committee chairperson Frank Dooley said he appreciated what the new chief executive and his team had done to rectify what had been an "embarrassment".
PricewaterhouseCooper confirmed the original glitch related to the rates generated for the ratepayers in council's special rating districts. It amounted to 16,087 invoices, and would take time to correct.
"There is a large credit that has to be processed," Dooley said.
He suggested that everyone should still pay their rates other than that charged specifically to their special rating district.
"That's the only error here, the rates for the special rating district."
Dooley said there was "one error that wasn't picked up" in going back to the original decision on June 27 to strike the general rates increase, but it had a huge impact.
"There will be a massive process to correct over 16,000 credits."
Dooley said was recommending that if people were unhappy with their 2023-24 rates demand, then they could just pay based on their 2022-23 demand.
It was vital people still paid their rates by November 30 to avoid "a cascading effect" on council's cash flow.
The council previously extended the deadline from October 20.
Dooley said as long as people paid something by November 30, council would exercise "total discretion" around penalties.
Lew repeated there was "a massive amount of work" to do in the meantime.
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.
Poll: Does a savoury scone require cheese on top, or folded inside?
Help settle the great kiwi debate ... cheese on top, or folded inside?
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