Last night's Dunedin City Council decision to proceed with the stadium puts the ball in the Otago Regional Council's court.
The council is considering borrowing the $37.5 million requested of it for the stadium, the loan to be repaid over 10 years.
Rating to service the loans would be spread evenly throughout the 10 years and the council would make three principal repayments of $5 million from funds sourced from Chalmers Property, a subsidiary of ORC-owned Port Otago.
Three rating options will be considered by the ORC finance committee tomorrow. -
- Allocating the rate requirement on the number of rating units in each area, then charging the costs within each area on a capital-value basis.
- Allocating the rate requirement on the basis of the number of rating units in each area, then amending it to recognise that each area is a variable distance from the stadium. The allocated costs would then be charged on a capital-value basis (the ORC's preferred option).
- As for option two, but rather than the full costs charged on capital-value basis, a $10 uniform rate would be charged to each rating unit and the balance of costs then charged on a capital-value basis.
Several conditions will apply if the committee recommends an amendment to the ORC's long-term council community plan that would see it contribute funds to the stadium.
They include: that the regional council's contribution be capped at $37.5 million and the city council's not less than $85 million, and that any external funding available for reducing ratepayer contributions be shared pro-rata between both councils.
If recommended by the committee, the amendment would be considered by the full council on March 26 before going out for public submissions with the annual plan on May 8.
