Hauraki District Rates Up By 8.9 Percent

Ratepayers in the Hauraki District on the council water supply will have rates increase 8.9 percent.

This following Councillors recently adopting their 2023-2024 Annual Plan. Non-water supply users face a 6.8 percent land rate increase.

Mayor Toby Adams said in finalising the district’s annual plan, Councillors were very mindful of the increased cost of living pressure on everyone.

“Our goal on setting the rates for the 2023-2024 rating year was to keep costs as low as possible for our communities without impacting our core services, and importantly, trying to keep the increase below inflation”, said the Mayor.

He added that increased costs from inflation, higher interest rates on borrowings and material shortages, put pressure on the budgets that Council forecasted for year three of the 2021-2031 Long Term Plan.

This was illustrated when Council considered both the new Waste Management and Land Transport contracts, which were more expensive than what was predicted.

“Going forward, we really had to sharpen our pencil taking into account these unplanned increases while trying to keep the rates rise under inflation. We’re pleased that at the time of setting the non-water (land) rates, we were able to achieve this for our communities,” he said.

Council has also adopted fees and charges for the coming 12-month period. The fees and charges remain mostly unchanged, there are some increases to the building consent and dog registration fees and some administrative amendments.

“We’ve trimmed our budgets as much as possible without impacting our core services and we’re ready to tackle the challenges of the new rating year. We know times are tougher out there, so we’ll need to work together to get the best for our communities. They’re always at the heart of everything we do,” said Mayor Adams.

The 2023-2024 Annual Plan is available for viewing at Hauraki District Council service centres and libraries or on the Council website.