This week Stratford District Council (SDC) discussed fees and charges for 2023/24, as part of its annual planning process.

Elected members focused on making increases to some fees and charges for Wai o Rua – Stratford Aquatic Centre, building, dog registrations and licensing, cemeteries and health licensing.

Feedback on proposed changes to fees will be invited in May when the draft Annual Plan 2023/24 is released for community input, ahead of final adoption in June 2023.

Reviewing user fees and areas of expenditure has been front of mind for elected members and Council officers over the last few weeks as higher than normal inflation levels continue to challenge affordability across the country.

District Mayor, Neil Volzke says that the current environment is making it extremely difficult for councils right across New Zealand at annual plan time. “We don’t want to add fuel to the fire when it comes to the cost of living for our communities, so we’re working hard to find spending reductions and increased revenue options to help. Unfortunately, this does mean a look at user fees and increasing service charges where reasonable.”

“Much of the inflation pressures Council faces across service delivery are out of our control and significantly above the Consumer Price Index. This includes increases in interest payments, depreciation, labour market pressures and contracted supplier charges. In order to maintain the level of service we committed to in our Long Term Plan, we need to find savings and revenue in other areas,” he says.

“At the beginning of our Annual Plan conversations we started with a rate rise of 16.5%, and we’re currently working down towards 8 or 9%.”

“To get here we asked council officers to undertake a line-by-line budget review for potential savings and additional revenue, and we’ll spend the next few weeks continuing these efforts to ensure our final proposed rates increase has been applied with all options explored.”

“We’re all aware that 8 or 9% won’t be greeted with open arms from property owners, and we feel your pain. We need to increase our expenditure just to maintain existing levels of service. Managing this while keeping rates as low as possible is our priority,” says Mayor Volzke.

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