Councillors have adopted Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC)’s revised 2020-2021 Annual Plan delivering an average rates increase of 1.59%.

At their meeting of Full Council this afternoon, Councillors considered at length the Annual Plan which contained a significantly reduced average rates increase of 1.59% (after allowing for growth of 3.5%). This adopted average increase is down from the 6.76% that was signalled originally when the draft Annual Plan and Consultation Document were approved for consultation in March 2020.

As previously signalled, this means that residential rates are now proposed to increase by between $34 and $125 per annum for next year, with most businesses seeing a reduction in rates. To achieve these lower increases, the revised plan took into account significant reductions in staff costs of $4.7M, and a further $1.7M in contractor costs. The plan also needed to take into account the need to deliver on levels of service, invest in the community’s economic and community recovery programme and capital investment programme, as well as a significant reduction in revenue and income, much of which was related to visitor activity.

The final adopted 2020-2021 Annual Plan can be found on the QLDC website: www.qldc.govt.nz/your-council/council-documents/annual-plans

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