A Tarawera resident's group is calling for funding clarity on a council sewerage scheme. Photo / Laura Smith
A Lake Tarawera residents’ group says sewerage scheme costs for homeowners at the lake must be lowered and unaffordability is “not a trivial matter”.
A member suggested homeowners not sign off on allowing connection works on their properties until they have funding certainty.
Rotorua Lakes Council is considering three funding options for the Tarawera Sewerage Scheme in its Annual Plan consultation
The scheme connects lake properties to Rotorua’s reticulated sewerage, replacing septic tanks blamed for declining lake water quality.
The most recent cost estimate is $32.2 million, up from $29 million late last year. The council has said protests and court action added expense.
Under the 2024-34 Long-Term Plan, Tarawera ratepayers would need to fund $20.9m, but this has now jumped to $21.5m.
The council would borrow the money and households would pay it back over time.
Under the first funding option - the status quo - the lump-sum cost was $50,315 each, including GST.
Paid over 25 years, it would be $3899 a year - including covering the cost of the council holding the debt.
This could be split into two rates, one for the main pipeline and the other for connecting to the scheme, with the latter only charged to households that connect.
About 446 existing properties and 104 more to be built in the future could be connected.
These included public toilets, which the council would pay to connect.
The figures reflected a $5286 discount if households agreed by June 1 to having installation work on their properties.
So far, 65 properties have given approval for this.
Households that missed the deadline would need to pay for the connection themselves.
Any who refused to connect may have few options, with the council previously saying septic tanks alone would be non-compliant and upgrades to be compliant were unlikely to get consent with reticulation available nearby.
The two other funding options reduced Tarawera households’ costs by increasing rates paid by all other Rotorua ratepayers, through the Lakes Enhancement Rate.
Option two added $2.80 a year to all ratepayers’ bills for 25 years, raising $1m and reducing Tarawera households’ contribution to $47,737.
Option three raised $4m by increasing rates $11.20 per year, and reduced Tarawera payments to $40,001.
At a community meeting on Easter Monday, the Lake Tarawera Sewerage Working Group recommended attendees support option three.
Group member Duncan Evans told the meeting option three did not “go far enough”.
He said the group had told council staff many could not afford the scheme, and proposed three non-negotiable conditions.
These were to set the maximum cost for Tarawera ratepayers at $36,600; exclude all cost escalations from their bills; and ask Bay of Plenty Regional Council to increase its funding to $1.485m to match Rotorua Lakes Council’s contribution.
He advised attendees not to sign off on installation plans until they had certainty and a capped charge was agreed.
Evans suggested that if the group’s maximum was agreed, then homeowners would agree to sign plans within two weeks of that decision.
In a statement to Local Democracy Reporting, group chairman Sir Henry van der Heyden said the council must negotiate with the Tarawera community before the rates are struck.
“This is not a trivial matter. Many community members simply cannot afford to pay for the options council is proposing.”
Submissions on the Annual Plan are open until May 5.
The council’s infrastructure and assets group manager, Stavros Michael, encouraged people to make submissions for elected members to consider.
“We continue to have discussions with Tarawera property owners and have continued to explore additional funding options to reduce the cost to ratepayers as much as possible.”
The council hosted a webinar on the scheme options last week.
Council chief executive Andrew Moraes answered questions including what happened when someone could not afford the 25-year rate.
“The council has a range of policies that address hardship for people who struggle to make rates payments.”
He encouraged people to reach out before making “significant life decisions” about their property.
Moraes said the council intended to seek more funding from the regional council and suggested people write to it for the same.
Laura Smith is a Local Democracy Reporting journalist based at the Rotorua Daily Post. She previously reported general news for the Otago Daily Times and Southland Express, and has been a journalist since 2019.
- LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.