Invercargill City Council confirms new fees and charges

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An increase to the cost of dumping at the Invercargill Waste Transfer Station on Bond Street will still not cover the full cost of providing the service.

Robyn Edie/Stuff

An increase to the cost of dumping at the Invercargill Waste Transfer Station on Bond Street will still not cover the full cost of providing the service.

The cost of taking a small load to Invercargill waste transfer station will double to $10 under a new set of city council fees and charges.

The council has confirmed the new schedule of charges with just a few changes after public consultation, and is sticking with the increase to the previous $5 minimum charge while noting a warning that it would result in more illegal dumping and littering.

Council officers had identified the risk of fly-tipping, strategy and policy manager Rhiannon Suter reported, and they would actively monitor the situation.

The increase would still not cover the full – and increased – cost of providing the service, which was inline with the Eisswions Trading Scheme. Almost all other regions applied higher costs.

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The biggest hammer will fall on the city’s 99 commercial water users who face a rise from 76c to $1 per cubic metre, increasing their costs between $20,000 and $200,000 annually.

Direct consultation drew not a peep of formal protest from that group, who are also staring at greater increases under three waters reforms.

However, the Southland Business Chamber submitted that a 42% increase “seems excessive’’ and concerns were raised about the extra burden this would place on businesses, threatening their ongoing viability.

But Suter said significant increases in commercial water fees were needed to bring the council closer to recovering costs of providing service to commercial customers, and without it a further 0.72% rates increase would have been required.

The increase most closely scrutinised by councillors was the housing care rentals which would increase between $7 and $9 a week. After close questioning about the extent to which Government support to beneficiaries would mitigate that, the council let it stand.

But they did agree with their officers’ recommendation to drop the proposed removal of an 8% discount on cemetery and cremation fees, which was offered to funeral homes for invoicing on the council’s behalf.

Proposed increases for tenants at Coopers’ Creek were put on hold, after some current residents reserved the right to make further submissions “until the Ombudsman’s decision on the matter had been received”. Their submissions were considered in a public-excluded part of the meeting.

In all, the detailed list of new fees and charges drew 20 responses during the month-long consultation period.

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