Ratepayers across Central Otago can expect their annual bill to increase by around 7.5% from July 1st - a tiny sliver less than expected, due to the district’s galloping growth.

The Central Otago District Council are currently presenting draft budgets including proposed rating increases, to each of Central’s four community boards for consideration.

Vincent Community Board were the first to look at the changes yesterday, with Teviot Valley’s turn tomorrow. Cromwell and Maniototo Boards will review the rates proposals.

Later in this month, then the figures go before full council for further scrutiny before being included the council’s 2022 – 2023 Annual Plan.

Rates increased by an average of 6.7% across the district last year and are predicted to go up another 7.6% next year, bringing the total percentage increase over three years to 21.8%.

The predicted increases were recorded in the council’s latest 10-Year Plan - also known as a Long-term Plan (LTP) - which sets strategic direction and a work programme for the council for 10 years ahead. The current plan for 2021 to 2031 was adopted last winter but as with every LTP it will be rewritten and tweaked every three years to respond to what is happening in the district and wider economy.

The council writes an Annual Plan covering more detail about current goings-on, in every year between the writing of an LTP.

Calculations are based on the rating income needed to pay for works and services outlined in the LTP, then adjusted to reflect growth, according to a CODC finance department spokesperson. As the district grows the rates burden is shared across a greater number of people.

When the budgets were prepared over 2020 and early 2021, this growth was predicted at 1.9%. According to a council report, actual growth has been recorded as 2.4% which allows the organisation to shave 0.3% off the predicted rates rise.

Rates vary between property types -commercial, lifestyle or residential, capital and land values and areas but for example, if a property’s rates are now $1500 a year, it’s likely they could go up to around $1612.50.

Policies around how rates are dealt with haven’t really changed aside from the removal of a 2.5% discount in the LTP that was applied when ratepayers paid their property’s annual rates in full on or before the first instalment. Council say this is “in line with many other councils given the low interest rates and also to keep rate costs down”.

The council rating report was accepted yesterday during a meeting conducted online. The Board later excluded the public to discuss an issue where wilding pines are set to be removed from a reserve and to discuss issues at the council-owned Clyde Campground.

The wilding pines issue is set to be publicly discussed at the board’s second meeting for the year on March 22nd.