The Whakatāne District Council’s Annual Plan and Fees and Charges for 2020/21 have now been formally adopted.
A report setting out the key changes from the Annual Plan Consultation Document was received at an extraordinary Council meeting on Wednesday, and it confirmed a 3.9 percent increase in the District’s total rates requirement for the year. Changes to what was proposed in the consultation document were made both in direct response to feedback on the Annual Plan and through the refinement of budgets to respond to an evolving context brought about largely by COVID-19.
Mayor Judy Turner says the increase sits within the limit set out in Council’s financial strategy, and responds to what are extraordinary and unprecedented local, national and international economic circumstances.
"Council has endeavoured to maximise opportunities that are currently available through central government co-investment, while also being responsive to future changes, particularly in the water and wastewater space," she says.
"There's always a balance to be struck between affordability and the need to improve the services and infrastructure the Council provides for the community," she says. "We need to ensure we are good ancestors, and that means we cannot simply defer costs that will make things unaffordable for future generations."
Also adopted at Wednesday's meeting was the Rates Resolution for the 12 months dated from 1 July 2020. The rates resolution sets the exact charges to be levied for general rates, the Uniform Annual General Charge (UAGC) which applies to rateable properties throughout the District, and the various targeted rates applying to services such as roading, stormwater, sewerage, water supplies and waste removal. The resolution also specifies the dates when rates and water rates payments will fall due, plus the penalty which will apply to late payments and discount for on-time payments.
The final Annual Plan and Fees and Charges 2020/21 documents will be made available within the month on Council’s website or can be viewed at Council facilities.