Submissions to the draft annual plan heard
This week the Policy and Services Committee heard and considered submissions received on the draft Annual Plan 2022-23. Council’s annual plan outlines what we’ll spend on projects and day-to-day services over the next financial year and how they’ll be paid for. View the draft plan online here.
Council received 23 submissions with 5 submitters choosing to present theirs in person at the hearing held on Tuesday 17 May 2022.
Topics raised within the submissions ranged from maintenance of the Kopuatama Cemetery to the Stratford Croquet Club’s goal for growth, but the subject with the most interest was the proposed targeted roading rate differential for forestry land owners.
The rate differential will mean that a fixed portion ($100,000) of the total roading rate requirement proposed for 2022/23 ($3,094,900) is collected from ratepayers who own property that is used primarily for the purpose of forestry. This also means that all other properties will pay a slightly lower roading rate than they currently do.
The rate has been proposed because Council spends a disproportionate amount of the roading budget every year on repairing unsealed roads damaged by heavy vehicles associated with the forestry industry.
Some submissions questioned the fairness of how the rate is calculated and provided alternative options such as rating per tonne of logs.
As part of the deliberations Mayor Neil Volzke provided examples of other Councils who administer a similar system of rating for forestry properties. He said, “calculating the rate using the capital value of the property is the common, most practical and fair way forward.”
Elected members discussed the importance of ensuring properties were correctly identified as fitting the exotic forestry criteria. This will be discussed further at next week’s draft Rates Remission Policy hearing on Tuesday 24 May.
The proposed overall rates increase for 2022/23 looks to remain at 6.41% after this week’s hearing. It’s slightly higher than the 6.21% originally proposed in the Long Term Plan 2021–31, a relatively small difference that hides a lot of the cost pressures Council is facing.
“Since our LTP was adopted last year, we’ve had to react to the same external factors as the rest of the country. COVID-19, inflation and supply chain issues are key influencers here,” says Mayor Volzke.
“Elected members and Council staff have worked hard to find ways to continue delivering services as promised in the LTP without passing on these cost burdens,” he says.
“We’re extremely mindful of the impacts of cost increases on our communities and that the current rate of inflation is impacting affordability.”
The final Annual Plan 2022-23 is set for adoption at the full Council meeting on 14 June 2022. The new rates will take effect from 1 July 2022.
