Visitors to the district could soon have to pay to use Whakatāne's busy boat ramp. Photo / Beacon
Paying to use the district’s boat ramps is just one of 28 new fees and charges recommended to Whakatāne district councillors.
Swimming pool entry, family-led cremations and dog charges are also in the spotlight as the council looks at a more user-pays fee structure.
Changes were discussed at a briefing on Wednesday, although decisions are yet to be made.
The proposed schedule is due to be approved for public consultation at a meeting on April 16.
It aims to better reflect the cost of providing the services, which would otherwise be funded by ratepayers, who don’t all use them.
Currently, fees and charges accounted for 7.8% of the council’s income, while rates accounted for 71.5%. The remainder came from grants, subsidies, and development and financial contributions.
Chief executive Steven Perdia said he felt 7.8% was very low.
“In my mind, it should probably sit between 12 and 15% of your revenue.”
The 28 charges included a mix of new services, and fees for existing services not currently charged for, while some were to discourage bad behaviour.
A further 32 charges have proposed increases higher than inflation.
Staff warned councillors they anticipated strong public opinions about some of the proposed charges.
These included charging visitors to the district $20 a day for using the Whakatāne boat ramp and $10 for Ōhiwa and Thornton boat ramps.
Under the scheme, district residents would need to pay a one-off $20 administration fee to register up to two vehicles to use the boat ramps and parking area.
Ports manager Mark Read said the boat ramps required capital and operating expenditure to keep maintained, including daily cleaning.
An unauthorised berthage fee of $220 was also suggested.
Read said this fee was intended as a deterrent for vessels that berthed on loading zones, including refuelling zones without permission, causing a nuisance to other users.
A reduced registration fee for working dogs was suggested, and the definition of working dogs to be changed to include hunting dogs.
This significantly reduced the cost of registering these dogs, from $68.50 to $40, and it was aimed at encouraging more people to register their dogs.
A dog seizure fee of $70 was also suggested.
The Whakatāne Aquatic Centre admission for students and seniors citizens was proposed to be raised from $3.50 to $5, along with a new 30 cent energy surcharge.
While the centre had solar panels, this was not covering the costs entirely.
Councillors asked for a suggested new admission charge to the currently free Murupara Pool to be removed from the current consultation.
It was felt that this would create hardship for a community remote from other services, and likely cost the council more to implement than would be made.
Increased numbers of families wanting to take charge of funerals, rather than hiring a funeral director, were behind two new cemetery and crematorium fees.
Family-led cremations and families wanting to back-fill burials themselves had added to the council staff time spent assisting them and tidying up afterward.
An administration fee of $500 for family-led cremations and $250 for self-backfilled burials was suggested.
An oversized casket fee of $250 was also suggested as these could sometimes double the cremation time.
New roading charges being proposed included a $500 charge for developers or event organisers who don’t get their applications for road closures in on time.
Transport manager Ann-Elise Reynolds said there were specified time frames for when those applications were supposed to be in, and when these were not met it created a cost for the council.
“We’re getting increasing amounts of applicants not putting in applications when they should – sometimes quite high-profile events - so it requires the team to drop everything and just focus on processing that application.”
There was also a proposed $1000 road damage bond for developers, with a larger amount required for larger developments.
Significant changes were also being made to fees for water supply, including installation of new water meters. New Local Water Done Well requirements do not include water rates, which are charged separately.
Other suggested new fees were around administrating new granny flat legislation, and changes to how library meeting rooms, community halls and parks and reserve hire fees were charged.
– LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.