Rates in Whangārei going up 7.9pc when council adopts Annual Plan

The owner of this house in Kensington will see their rates rise by $244.23 a year. Photo / Mike Dinsdale

Rates in Whangārei are going up by 7.9 per cent and 2.5 per cent of that increase will be added to the Whangārei District Council’s roading budget when it adopts the 2023/24 Annual Plan later this month.

WDC put two rate options in its April and May 2023/24 Annual Plan consultations. More than half of the 584 submitters (305) supported the 7.9 per cent increase, while 49 favoured the other option of a 10.9 per cent hike, with 3 per cent allocated to roading. Others submitted on separate topics (44 on fees and charges, and 173 on cats).

At the decision meeting this week, Councillors spoke about the increased expenses faced by both the community and the council.

“People are facing increased costs to keep their households and businesses going. Council is also facing increased cost in materials and project prices to maintain and develop the district’s assets and services,” a council spokesperson said.

“It was also considered that many costs not covered this year, or projects deferred, would need to be covered in subsequent years or generations.”

As an example of what a 10.9 per cent rate increase can mean, the Northern Advocate looked at a property in Kensington.

The two-bedroom, weatherboard home has a 2022/23 rates bill of $3091.53 with a capital value of $630,000. A 7.9 per cent rise would increase $244,23 to $3335.53 for the 2023/24 year. A 10.9 per cent rise would have seen the rates bill go up by $336.97 to $3428.56.

To reduce its expenses and to help keep rates affordable, WDC has also decided to defer $54 million of capital works - new projects or significant new investments in major assets.

A further $16.2m of savings will be made this year through deferral of some jobs and staging of other jobs.

Projects to be moved into future years include The Pohe Island Marine Hub and Car Park, the Whananaki Wharf replacement and the One Tree Point Boat Ramp upgrade.

Central city improvement works to be staged across several years include the Cameron St to Waiarohia/Okara streetscape upgrade. The focus this year will be to establish the new crossing near the Reyburn St roundabout (Port Rd end). This will be delivered as part of the Herekino St section of the Lower Waiarohia Loop.

The design will proceed on the new Whangārei wastewater treatment plant administration building, but construction will be deferred, along with the new $10m stadium and event centre roof.

WDC has decided to continue with the capital spending allocated to sportsfields and skateparks, because these have been long awaited in many communities, and provide a high amount of benefit for relatively low cost compared to other major projects.

Mayor Vince Cocurullo said increasing rates was never an easy conversation to have and the decision to go with a 7.9 per cent increase was a “balanced call”.

He said a typical urban residential property paid around $2200 per year on land rates, and this covered everything from maintenance of footpaths and roads to resealing roads, maintenance of sewerage treatment plants, access to public toilets, libraries, playgrounds, sports fields, pensioner housing and public parking.

Rates also covered the cost of parking, barking and noise enforcement, City Safe, administration, insurance, taxes, debt repayment, advocacy and democracy within the council and events within the district, he said.

“The cost of providing these services is increasing every year and we need to cover them. We have to keep rates affordable for the public and we have to cover our costs.

“Roading is our biggest area of spend. To secure central government funding we need to contribute the district’s share of the costs. Construction costs have sky-rocketed recently – even higher than the rate of inflation we are all experiencing in our private lives. That means we are paying much more just to keep up with our current commitments,” he said.

“Pre-Gabrielle, our roads were already under duress after months of constant rain. Post-Gabrielle, some of our roads are in a terrible state. Due to the soil types that are under our Northland roads, it typically costs around four times the amount of money to do the same repair and maintenance work here, as compared with the South Island.

“This is why our council wants to make sure that within any rate increases, we clearly set aside money to deal with roading issues only. The 7.9 per cent increase, with 2.5 per cent allocated directly to roading, over and above the existing budget, should help.”