New fees and charges are now in place for many Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) services after elected members voted to adopt them at the Full Council meeting on 27 June.

The changes follow community consultation on proposed fee increases in the areas of environmental health, sport and recreation, community facilities/parks and reserves, libraries, planning and development, parking, mooring and jetty fees, and Wānaka airport landing fees.

QLDC Chief Executive Mike Theelen confirmed reviews take place every year.

“It’s important fees and charges are kept up to date and reflect the costs of delivering activities and services on behalf of the community,” he said.

“In most cases, what people pay is a contribution towards the whole cost rather than the full amount. A good example is swim prices which, like many other Council charges, are roughly 70 per cent ‘user pays’ and 30 per cent subsidised from rates.”

“An important factor behind the changes is recent higher inflation that has seen people in our district and around the country paying more for a range of things from groceries to power. Council is not immune from this. The process has been considered carefully by elected members and Council officers with these pressures in mind.”

Mr Theelen added that the Local Government Act also requires all councils to review fees and charges annually to ensure any additional processes and new costs are fully covered, in line with their revenue and financing policies.

“As outlined in the draft Long Term Plan 2024-2034 that’s currently open for community consultation, fees and charges make up approximately 15.5% of Council’s sources of funding over the next ten years. Without these increases, an increase in rates equivalent to $1.15M – or nearly one percentage point – would have been required, shifting more of the cost onto all ratepayers and away from those who directly benefit from using these services,” he said.

Councillors gave the go-ahead for community consultation on proposed fee increases at their April meeting. Consultation then ran from 5 April-5 May during which Council received 50 submissions. A hearing panel of Councillors Lisa Guy, Gavin Bartlett and Niki Gladding also agreed to include ten late submissions, with all 60 considered when the panel met on 27 May before the final report was presented at the 27 June Full Council meeting.

A proposed fee increase for jetties and moorings received the most feedback during community consultation. As part of adopting the new fees, Councillors also approved a formal requirement for biennial inspections to be carried out on all jetties and moorings across the district. ) c

The full schedule of new fees and charges took effect from 1 July and can be found here. Specific information relating to the Resource Management Act and Local Government Act (e.g. for planning and consenting) can be found here.

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