Councillors disgruntled at 11.58% rates increase proposed for Gore district

Mataura ward councillor Neville Phillips apologised to the town’s residents about a proposed rates rise at a council meeting on Tuesday.

Gore district councillors discussed increasing rates by an average of 11.56%, but they shared their concerns about the level of council debt and the council and the community’s ability to pay.

A proposed independent review of the council’s governance was not budgeted for and would take the rates increase to more than 12%.

General manager corporate services Lornae Straith said that cost would have to be found elsewhere and it would be discussed at another time. The council tabled a report into the review earlier at the meeting because it had engaged new legal representation and it wanted the legal team to review the terms of reference before it agreed on it.

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Councillors shared their disappointment at the amount of the increase, and several were concerned about the community’s ability to pay.

In a report to the council which was tabled at the meeting, Straith said higher interest rates and personnel costs were the main drivers for the rates increase.

In a response to questioning from councillors about how the increase could be reduced, Straith said council could reduce levels of service to reduce rates, but it was too late to consult with the community about it because of statutory time frames.

There were fixed costs that the council could not avoid, she said.

Straith said the number of people who defaulted had increased, and the council was working with them.

Several councillors suggested council staff should try to find savings to reduce the increase, but community lifestyle services general manager Rex Capil said that would be ‘’kicking the can down the road’’, and needed to be part of the Long Term Plan process.

Councillors voted to delay the roll-out of a new kerbside recycling service until 2024, but mayor Ben Bell was unhappy with the direction, saying he had campaigned on having a recycling service in the district.

They also voted to increased transfer station fees by 30%, to cover an increase in the Government’s waste disposal levy, and approved reintroducing a fee for greenwaste over 100kg.

Cr Bronwyn Reid was concerned that would lead to an increase in fly tipping because people could not afford to visit the transfer station.

The council will also employ a second communications officer, and a part-time assistant facilities officer due to workload, and declined a grant of $24,360 for the Insert Coin to Play Charitable Trust.

The Mataura Beautification Fund to be increased by $2500 this year and a request for it to be increasedby that amount for the next four years will be discussed as part of the LTP. An increase in the grant/donation of $3460 to the Mataura Bowling Club for their voluntary work at the Mataura Collection Point was approved. That added .02% to the rates rise, bringing it to 11.58%.

The council will not consult on the Annual Plan, but the council was expecting feedback from the public about the increase. It also discussed increasing some fees and charges, including the rates for hiring rooms at the new James Cumming Community Centre.

The Annual Plan will be formally adopted at a meeting on June 27.