West Coast ratepayers kept in dark over rates increase

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from The Press

By local democracy reporter Brendon McMahon:

Ratepayers are being kept in the dark over whether the West Coast Regional Council will ping them with a large rates increase this year.

The council is expected to release its consultation document for its 2024-34 long-term plan (LTP) in March, which will outline the rates plan for 2024-25.

However, it won't say what increase it's looking at.

The council has been meeting behind closed doors since March 2023 in a series of eight workshops for the LTP.

The Ombudsman last year called for councils to open workshops by default after an investigation found the public was being shut out of some meetings without valid reason.

The council's finalised plan will include projected annual rates for the life of the plan.

In 2023, the council passed a 16.4% rates increase, although a Civil Defence levy doubled for all ratepayers at the time. Ratepayers living in special rating districts, like the Greymouth Floodwall area, were also hit with large increases above ordinary rates.

At the time, Risk and Assurance Committee chairperson Frank Dooley, an accountant, was the sole voice of dissent.

He said the rates hike needed to be much higher after years of relatively low increases and a deficit in council resources.

But Dooley declined this week to say what the projected rates increase might be in 2024-25.

He said the council was due to have another LTP workshop late this month, following which the public consultation document release in March would be settled.

This was pending the outcome of a compulsory audit of the LTP document.

Dooley said council had filed its draft LTP for audit by January 8.

"Council met that deadline. We're waiting on the audit process to go through."

Dooley said there may be a delay in the LTP draft going out for consultation depending on the need for any amendments. If that were the case, then the draft would need to go back to the auditor - although no amendments were foreseen at this stage.