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Date: 18 March, 2011

Draft NRC Annual Plan Approved

Ratepayers are being asked to back a change that will allow the Northland Regional Council to directly fund projects that will grow the region’s economy, raise living standards and make it a better place to live.

The regional council says its overall general rates revenue – excluding targeted river rates - could increase anywhere from a low of 4.56 percent up to 15.3% in the upcoming 2011/12 financial year depending on what items are funded through its Annual Plan. (The proposed increases could add anywhere from $7.05 to $25.10 to the average rates bill over the 12 months from July 01.)

A proposal to redirect the council’s income is one of a raft of measures spelt out in the council’s Draft Annual Plan 2011-2012 which was approved by councillors at a meeting in Kaikohe this week..

Council Chairman Craig Brown says if the proposed redirection of council investment income is ultimately adopted, the impact on rates bills would vary depending on the length of time it took to implement the change.

“At this stage, council’s preference is to phase the change in over five years, which would result in an annual rate increase of about $17.80 per ratepayer over each of those five years.”

He says a five-year implementation programme would create an investment pool of approximately $20 million over that period and the proposed change would allow council to directly fund specific projects, rather than needing to introduce fresh targeted rates to fund new initiatives.

Mr Brown says the council is keen to support projects that:

• Remove obstacles to the region’s success
• Bring investment into the region
• Create rewarding business and employment opportunities
• Raise Northlanders’ living standards.

“We want to increase the enjoyment of living in this special part of New Zealand and transform Northland into one of the country’s leading regions.”

Meanwhile, Mr Brown says the council is also seeking the support of ratepayers in the Whangarei district for a new targeted rate to begin a staged programme of works to reduce the flood risk from urban Whangarei rivers.

The initial first stage of the project would be carried out over the next year and come at a cost of about $680,000. It is designed to free up the flow of water, especially in the lower reaches of the city’s urban rivers. It would include dredging in a variety of locations, as well as work to allow floodwaters to pass more easily under the Rust Ave bridge.

The council has put forward two options; the first of which would see every rateable property in the district pay a charge of $17.39 over the next year and the second option, a sliding scale of charges targeting ratepayers based on where they live, as well as businesses in the central business district. Any subsequent funding that may be needed for a possible second and third stage of the project will be examined by the council in future years.

Mr Brown says the Draft Annual Plan also sees the council propose a rate to pay for $1.36M of capital works to reduce flood risks in Kaeo and Tauranga Bay. (The rate would replace an existing targeted Kaeo-Whangaroa River Management Rate.)

As proposed, the new rate would cost people living in the Far North District Council’s former Whangaroa ward somewhere between $108.93 and $174.50 annually, depending on whether the work is paid for over five, seven or 10 years.

Mr Brown says overall, the newly-approved draft estimates total operational spending of $25 million for the year, about $350,000 less than forecast for 2011-2012 in the council’s Long Term Plan.

He says councillors are aware that the past year has been difficult economically for many in the region, but says even if the public supports the larger increases proposed, NRC rates will still remain low compared to their district counterparts.

“As proposed – and excluding river rates - someone in the Kaipara district whose property has a land value of $225,000 would pay $172.24 in regional council rates for the year, while someone in the Far North would pay $155.04. In the Whangarei district the annual rates bill would be $204.46 because they already pay a higher regional recreational rate and a transport rate to help fund the public bus service.”

Mr Brown says full details of the initiatives the council is proposing can be found in the Draft Annual Plan, which will be publicly notified on Wednesday 06 April. The public will then have a month - until 3pm on Friday 06 May - to comment.
“Council also intends to distribute more than 60,000 copies of a 16-page summary of its draft plan – complete with a submission form – to homes throughout the region in April to coincide with the start of the consultation period.”

Several hundred copies of the full draft plan will also be sent out to interested parties and will also be available from April 06 on CD, from all council offices or via the council’s website www.nrc.govt.nz/draftannualplan

ENDS

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