Wanganui and Ruapehu Province Submissions for Ruapehu District Council's Long Term Plan and Revenue and Financing Policy
These submissions provides overall comment from the perspective of our farming members on the Ruapehu District Council (‘RDC’) Statement of Proposal Revenue and Financing Policy 2018 and draft proposed Revenue and Financing Policy 2018.
Federated Farmers has called for a complete overhaul of the way Council funds for tourism services and economic development for a number of years. We acknowledge this review has now been undertaken and advise that whilst some of the policies are tracking in the right direction, there is still quite a way to go before the right balance is struck.
Recommendations - Funding Policy
1. The targeted sewerage rates apply to ‘connected’ users only.
2. The targeted water rates only apply to those who are ‘connected’ to a Council-owned water supply scheme only.
3. Support is given for the Visitor Accommodation Targeted rate and the proposed $200 per annum rate is increased to ensure the ratepayer contribution is more commensurate with the services and benefit received.
4. Conditional support is given to the principle behind the proposed Economic Development Targeted Rate. However, Federated Farmers considers the more appropriate split should be 70% Commercial and Industrial targeted, 30% Targeted uniform rate across other property types to better align with Council’s own benefit principle analysis.
5. Support is given for the principle behind the Economic Development Targeted Rate. Federated Farmers considers the split should however be 70% Commercial and Industrial targeted, 30% Targeted uniform rate across other property types to better reflect Council’s LGA Section 101 assessments.
6. Support is given for the removal of the Regional Tourism Rate.
Recommendations - Long Term Plan
1. Transparency of the Rates Examples is improved by showing the itemised breakdowns an example property will contribute to respective funding sources.
2. Transparency is improved by showing how each rating mechanism will change over the 10-year life of the Long Term Plan.
3. The Council endeavours to keep rate increases as low as possible, this can be achieved in part, by ensuring spending priorities meet a ‘core business test’.
4. RDC re-evaluate the proposals which, in spite of Council’s insistence otherwise, do little to address the inequitable contribution rural ratepayer make to Council provided services - services for which a rural property receives no greater relative benefit from. Economic Development funding is a good example of this inequity.
5. Federated Farmers seeks maximum use of the UAGC funding mechanism to ensure services that provide an equal or indistinguishable amount of benefit across ratepayer groups, can receive increased levels of UAGC contribution.
6. That the method of calculation and percentage relative to the 30% cap are included in the Funding Impact Statement.
7. RDC introduce a general rate differential for rural properties. Differentials address the reality that (compared to urban residents) rural ratepayers:
- Receive a lower standard of service (e.g., no footpaths, street lighting, or rubbish collection, etc).
- Are located further from council services and will therefore use these services less (e.g., lack of adjacent parks, museums, libraries, etc).
- Will see less of an influence of council services on property values (e.g., farmland may not be enhanced by community services)
For more, please see the full submissions