Carterton's deputy mayor has called for changes in the district council's rates strategy in its first meeting since it topped the nation's property tax league.
Carterton Deputy Mayor Rebecca Vergunst was the only councillor to vote against the recommendation. Photo: Pete Nikolaison via LDR
Rebecca Vergunst voted against a staff recommendation to adopt a new revenue and finance policy for Carterton District Council's long-term plan.
On Tuesday, Carterton was named as the most expensive district in the country for residential rates in a recent survey.
Its rates average was more than double Central Otago, the lowest average area.
In a meeting on Wednesday, staff recommended a system which saw commercial premises valued at a general rate at twice the rate of residential properties.
Rural properties are proposed to be 80 percent of the residential rate.
The policies were nutted out in a series of behind-closed-doors workshops earlier this year.
Vergunst was the only councillor to vote against.
She said this differential was one of two main concerns she had with the proposed policy.
She also objected to the uniform annual general charge [UAGC] percentage.
The UAGC are fixed charges applied to every rating unit, no matter the value of the property.
Carterton District Council was one of the few councils to map out their rates in this way.
She said, in her opinion, lower-value homes picked up more of a share of rates.
"These are not equitable and they are not consistent with the principles we have discussed."
She said she "did not understand why our rural ratepayers pay 20 percent less per dollar of capital value" for a range of services.
These included parks and reserves, environmental health, liquor licensing, animal control services.
"Throughout our workshops, I have not heard an argument yet for why this differential exists. I think the generally-held view that rural ratepayers receive less benefits than urban residents."
She said this was not identified in Carterton District Council's processes.
"Seeing that a majority of councillors would like to continue with this rural differential, I would like to see some clear reasoning for this. It's currently not defined."
She said she did not see this as an urban versus rural debate, but one of equanimity.
Councillor Steffen Bertram said he disagreed, saying rates were a "blunt tool".
"I acknowledge the nuances, but overall, I think we're in a good place."
Mayor Greg Lang said he was confident the council had arrived at the right place in terms of the recommendation. Photo: Pete Nikolaison via LDR
Mayor Greg Lang said the discussions had been long in workshops, and it was "a tough one".
"I'm confident where we've landed is as good as we're going to get."
Speaking after the meeting, Vergunst said she was not advocating for getting rid of the rural differential entirely, but would prefer a restructure.
That would ensure rural residential properties were contributing the same amount proportionately as urban residential properties, she said.
The primary reason for this is to recognise that all residential properties, whether urban or rural, receive the same benefits.
She used Rotorua Lakes District Council as an example. RLDC has three differentials, Residential [under 5ha], Farming [over 5ha], and Business.
"The farming differential would address the high value top 15 percent of rural properties, so that their rating contribution would be still equitable," she said.
"The primary reason for this is to address the growing amount of lifestyle properties within our district, which receive the same benefits as urban residents but pay 20 percent less."
The district's long term plan will be put to the public in March.
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