"I'm so pleased they came through! It is just a [relief] because it is really paying quarter what we would have been paying, it is more manageable. It is a little less stressful. We are very thankful for their decision and support."
Waikato RDA has 222 riders and fees work out to be approximately $8 per ride, with many of the riders coming from low income families, making an increase in rates difficult.
Hamilton City Council's community general manager Lance Vervoort said council had looked closely at the RDA's financial status.
"They provide a holistic therapy type operation for people who are disabled, the benefit to the community is great. It relies on using horses so the animal health is [a must]. They have a whole bunch of variables," said Mr Vervoort.
"They have had some challenges around donations and grants. We have had a look at the way they are operating - they are well organised, have a lot of volunteers, they do have some challenges, challenges around costs, they have a number of their users who come from social economic standards that make it hard to put their fees up."
He said the decision worked with the council's disabled policy and will be reviewed in 2018.
"There are exceptional circumstances we have said if they have [more money] we will have to review this. We believe we have been true to the [Community Occupancy] Policy and the guidelines and we provide flexibility for review in the future."
Hamilton City Councillor Martin Gallagher said "We have good examples in this city where it has been very generous to other sporting organisations... I think an extra few grand to help this group out is quite insignificant in terms of our generosity in terms of other organisations. I believe we can do better [than status quo]."
Councillor Dave Macpherson agreed. "This is not a wealthy organisation, it doesn't have significant funds. We're not going outside the policy."
Council adopted the Community Occupancy Policy in November 2013; revenue generated is $137,838.10 per annum. The new policy replaces six previous policies, which were considered outdated and inconsistent.
There are currently 110 community groups with agreements covered by this policy and is designed to ensure a more equitable, consistent and transparent approach to community group use of Council-owned land and buildings. The aim is not to increase council revenue. To date, two groups have made applications under the "exceptional circumstances" clause in the policy.
The decision was expected to be ratified at a full council meeting yesterday. The new rate would come into effect immediately.