Tuesday 13 August 2013

Christchurch City Council acts swiftly over resolution error

The Christchurch City Council is acting swiftly to rectify a problem with the way it has set rates.

The Council’s Acting Chief Executive Jane Parfitt says the issue came to light when the Department of Internal Affairs noted that the due dates and penalties were not included in the current year's rates resolution.

“We have also found that this problem has occurred in previous years back to 2004 and we are looking at ways to deal with that,” Mrs Parfitt says.

“We regret this mistake and we will ensure it does not happen again. I must emphasize there was no error in the amount of rates collected. Because the Council can reset the rates for the present year, the first 2013/14 rates’ instalments are due as normal.”

The Mayor and chair of the Council's Corporate Finance Committee, Helen Broughton, were told last week after the Council was advised of the situation and the full Council was briefed yesterday.

On Friday Jane Parfitt will go to Wellington to discuss remedial action for prior years with staff from the Department of Internal Affairs, Audit New Zealand and the Auditor-General’s office. The Council has also sought legal advice on possible corrective measures.

The rates resetting process for 2013/14 will be initiated at the Council meeting on 29 August.
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