West Coast ratepayers face 16.42% rates rise

West Coast ratepayers will be walloped with a 16.42 percent rates increase after reluctant agreement today by the regional council.

The decision was not unanimous but it had the numbers to finalise the budget by the 30 June statutory deadline for adopting annual plans.

The increase is mainly driven by a doubling of costs for the Te Tai o Poutini Plan to $1 million this year - the full cost to be borne by the region's ratepayers.

Risk and Audit Committee chairperson Councillor Frank Dooley opposed the adoption of the annual plan.

He said the costs "imposed" on the regional council in 2019 for developing a combined district plan, and the council still not fully rating for its emergency management and Civil Defence function was unsustainable.

"You just cannot run your business in a deficit situation," Dooley said.

Council chairperson Peter Haddock pointed out they had had three closed-door workshops in drafting the budget.

"I know we're running a deficit here but there are a lot of things beyond our control."

The council had "no option" with the TTPP, the costs of which were expected to escalate beyond $5m.

"The deficit really runs on the one plan. But we need to look carefully at this, how the plan goes and how it's tracking," Haddock said.

Apart from that, the council was receiving significant government subsidies for infrastructure resilience projects.

Dooley said he had no objection to $643,000 costs in the budget for emergency management and Civil Defence costs this year.

That aspect for emergency management was "a really significant increase".

"What I have an objection to is that we don't fully rate for emergency management and community resilience."

Councillor Peter Ewen said he fully agreed, but the coast was the "guinea pig" to set up a blueprint regional plan for the government's RMA (Resource Management Act) reform agenda, and that should be recognised in the cost being borne by West Coast ratepayers.

The TTPP cost - projected to cost more than $5.7m once Environment Court costs were factored in - had previously been flagged.

"We have a $1.7m deficit, our (TTPP) spending to date is $1.7m - so you see the correlation there," Cr Ewen said. Efforts to advocate for costs from the government "have been turned down at every door".

With the general election around the corner, finding some money was "apparently doable" with the government bailing out a North Island skifield to the tune of $5m.

"I find that unacceptable... if you ever want to have a say why we don't get the $5m [for the TTPP] then West Coasters have the opportunity to say in voting [at the election]."

Councillor Allan Birchfield said he was voting in favour of adopting the plan "with reluctance" in line with his opposition to the TTPP, which would ultimately be decided via litigation in the Environment Court.

"At the end of the day, it won't be West Coasters that will make the final decision on the one-plan."

There was also much more detailed and costly work in mapping, natural hazard identification and significant natural areas which were currently based "off an aerial photograph with a pen".

Councillor Brett Cummings said: "It's just a bit unfair on a small region to be dictated to by central government. All we are doing basically is fighting the government for the money. It does your head in."

Haddock said the council had previously agreed to fund the TTPP at $500,000 a year, but it would now be $1m this year and next, and that affected the rates.

"It was to be incremental. We're getting up to the highest rates in the country."

Dooley said the affordability concerns needed to be in context given the TTPP was imposed on the region, and the three district councils had not altered their rates proportionately.

"I don't see that happening. Don't put this thing on to the regional council - look across the councils. Why hasn't the district council rates not been decreased $45 that has been imposed on regional council ratepayers?"

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