Submission on the Hauraki District Council draft Annual Plan 2022/23
Federated Farmers has submitted on the draft annual plan. HDC is proposing to change the annual charge to rates per separately used or inhabited part (SUIP), rather than charging per title (or rating unit). A SUIP refers to one or more parts of a property that can be separately used or inhabited. A SUIP is every rating unit, and every additional dwelling, commercial or community activity.
The change would see the Uniform Annual General Charge (UAGC) applied as a fixed charge per SUIP of a rating unit.
The proposed use of SUIPs has been a challenging issue. Federated Farmers has consistently pushed HDC to increase the UAGC share of rates and reduce the amount of revenue derived from property value, to reduce the overall rate burden on farmers.
A key part of our submission is that people benefit from Council services – not farmland. Overall, we supported the use of SUIPs for permanent housing where there is a full-time occupant or family who use district services, as if they were on a separately rated property.
However, we stated that this should not apply to occasional, or itinerant accommodation such as shearer’s quarters, farm cottages, ancillary farm buildings, or derelict houses.
Federated Farmers was supportive of the rates remission policy for SUIPs where a second habitable unit on a rating unit only used to accommodate non-paying guests and family would be eligible for remission. We recommended that Council extends the remission policy criteria to allow any habitable unit (whether this is one or multiple) used to accommodate non-paying guests to be eligible for remission. We also recommended that a new remission policy which provides for rural properties that are not contagious (for example, a runoff block located a few kms down the road from the milking platform) but are still farmed as a single entity.
The Hauraki DC annula plan can be found here 2022-23-Draft-Annual-Plan-consultation-document.pdf (hauraki-dc.govt.nz)
Our full submission can be reviewed on the right.
For further enquires or queries, please contact:
Jesse Brennan
Senior Policy Advisor
M: 027 226 5585
E:[email protected]