Changes this year could ‘hit ratepayers hard’
Ōpōtiki Mayor, David Moore, warned residents that changes to the timing of rates invoices this year could have a significant impact on households and the best thing to do was to prepare now to avoid a ‘bigger hit down the road’.
“There are a few factors all coming together to create a bit of a storm for us at council later this year. So I wanted to give everyone an early heads-up that it was coming and encourage people to prepare and take action now to reduce the possible impact of that,” Mayor Moore said.
A delayed LTP
Mayor Moore explained that the draft Long Term Plan (LTP) included a likely rates rise of around 10% driven by extraordinary cost increases in council core business activities and other factors beyond council’s control.
“Like councils around the country, it is costing us more to do less, and our plan for the next ten years reflects that reality. The councillors and I have worked very hard to get likely rates rises down to just over 10% on average and next month that document goes out to the community for feedback,” Mayor Moore said.
In addition to the rates increase proposed in the draft LTP, direction from the new coalition government to reinclude three waters infrastructure (wastewater, stormwater, water supply) also meant the timing of the rates invoices would change this year.
“The local government rating year starts on 1 July and we’d normally have all our ducks in a row to start our rates cycle then.
“But people might remember that we delayed adopting our Long Term Plan because we needed to re-include three waters infrastructure on our books which was a change with the new government late last year. This has taken longer than expected and we won’t sign off our LTP until the end of October.
“In a nutshell this means we can’t tell everyone how much their rates will be for the year until we have adopted the LTP. We can’t adopt the LTP until we’ve had an opportunity to talk to our communities about the draft, take that feedback into account, go through audit, and finalise our planning document. It is a very strictly proscribed local government process,” Mayor Moore said.
What that means for rates invoices
Council would usually send out letters and the first invoice of the year in July followed by three more invoices in October, January and April. Instead, this month, Council is sending a letter and a flyer explaining the changes. In November, once the LTP has been adopted, people will get their first rates invoice, but it will be for half a year, not three months.
“So there are two things people need to be prepared for. First, a rates bill that could be around 10% higher for most people because of the rates rises that are likely to be built into our LTP. And two, that rates invoice will be for half a year, instead of three months as it was previously. So it will look twice as big.
“For people who have a direct debit or automatic payment already set up, this shouldn’t feel like too much of a change because those payments will keep ticking over and when people receive their rates bill in November, their account should be pretty close to balanced.
“I am most concerned about those who pay in a lump sum when they get their invoices. If that is you or someone you know, I really strongly recommend planning ahead. Have a read of your letter when you get it next week or visit the council website to have a read about what your options are. Council will make the due date as late as possible in January to give people a little more time, but it will require some planning. There are things you can do like making sure you know what your entitlements are with things like the rates rebates scheme and setting up a payment plan now to be ready,” Mayor Moore said.
The council website has information on ways people can prepare and what their options are between now and the first invoice in November.
