Rural ratepayers rebuff CHB council's rating plan

CHB Mayor Alex Walker speaking at the rates meeting held at Patangata Pub. Photo / Warren Buckland.

About 50 people attended a meeting held at the Patangata Tavern for rural ratepayers to vent their concerns about a district-wide water rate proposed by the CHB District Council in its draft long term plan.

The council had been conducting a roadshow over recent weeks, going out to communities to talk to residents about the long term plan, but Elsthorpe had missed out so Mangakuri Beach resident and former district councillor Mark Williams requested the meeting that was attended by people from across the district.

At issue was the proposal to introduce a district rate that would see five per cent of the rates funding requirements for water infrastructure to be paid by all ratepayers, not just those connected to the water networks.

This equated to an additional charge of $49 for every ratepayer (both rural and urban) for the 2018-19 year to help pay for the drinking water and wastewater network and infrastructure.

While residents connected to the water networks already paid a targeted rate, the concerns that the model being suggested was not user pays echoed those aired by Tikokino residents at a meeting they organised earlier in the month.

At today's meeting people talked of their fears this rate would be a "slippery slope" that would not be limited to $49 a year, and questioned why when they paid for their own sewerage system they should subsidise people on the town systems.

"Anyone here that wants to put in a scheme at home is looking at costs of about $30,000 - we are not getting any money from the council to put into our schemes - I think it's a bit over the top to ask this of us when no-one contributes to our costs," said one.

Mr Williams asked if this was the thin edge of the wedge.

"Once the precedent is set who is to say that a future council, or even this council next year, won't ramp it up and want more?"

CHB mayor Alex Walker said what would prevent increasing costs in the years ahead would be the affordability of the rate for connected residents, who currently paid about $1500 a year for their water rate.

"They are paying $1500 to be connected - if that goes up by another 30 per cent say the question will be can they afford that - those paying five per cent will be constrained by what the urban residents can afford."

Former CHB mayor Peter Butler attended and said it sounded to him like the council had already made up its mind.

"It doesn't really sound like the rural people are being listened to - each argument being put forward is being argued against."

Ms Walker, who was accompanied by about four councillors and the council chief executive, said she was just answering people's questions, but acknowledged that the principle of what was being suggested was challenging for people.

"The mechanisms to collect rates are blunt - no-one likes having to do it, there's always some trade-offs - it's hard that we can't always make everyone happy.

"As many people that are here saying the don't like the idea, there are others who have told us they get it and want us to get onto it."

She encouraged those at the meeting to fill in submissions, and to talk to their submissions at the hearing to get their message through to councillors and help guide them in their decision making when they came to the vote on the plan.

Submissions closed on Thursday, March 9 and a hearing was scheduled to be held on April 26.