Whakatāne District Council is proposing price adjustments to its Fees and Charges Schedule and wants to hear from the public on those changes.   

The proposed increases will help maintain community services and facilities, process applications, and carry-out other obligations under government legislation. 

Whakatāne District Council’s General Manager Strategy and Transformation Steven Perdia said like many districts and cities across Aotearoa Council has tried to keep fees and charges low, but is not immune to increasing costs of delivery.  

“Over the past five years some of Council’s fees and charges haven’t changed at all, or they haven’t kept pace with inflation.   

“This proposal aims to strike a balance between making things affordable for communities and navigating extraordinary inflationary pressures, while delivering a level of service which makes the district a fantastic place,” Mr Perdia said.  

Some user fees and charges are based on a ‘user-pays model’ where the person who benefits from the activity or service pays to cover the cost. In other cases, fees and charges are subsidised by general rates, especially if there is a greater element of public good. But in most cases, it is a mix of the two.

“Generally, for things like libraries and sports fields, a higher proportion of the cost of delivering that activity will be subsidised by general rates.”

The proposed changes are in line with Council’s Revenue and Finance Policy which sets guidelines on sharing costs between ratepayers and the people using a particular service.  

“Making these changes now means will take some pressure off future rates increases as we go through our Long Term Plan process,” he said.  

From tomorrow (Friday, 1 September) people can join the conversation and view the full list of proposed changes on our Kōrero mai page.

Consultation closes on Monday, 2 October.