The householders will also pay the original water charge for the current financial year. A full review of Central Otago District Council charges is recommended, however, before the 2021 long-term plan.
The issue was discussed by the council's three waters infrastructure committee this week.
Volumetric rates - which charge for the amount of water actually used - rose from 86 cents per cubic metre to $1.80 for households in the Ripponvale water scheme (a private water scheme servicing about 85 houses); Lakefield Estates Management (a greenway co-owned by 20 residential properties); the Burn Cottage Rd water supply (a private water scheme servicing five houses); and Padgets Water Ltd (a private water scheme servicing five houses). The increase also affected the accounts of the Otago Regional Council and Contact Energy.
All six users or groups of users were on a "bulk charge" only, which meant they were charged only on the metered amount of water they used, and did not also pay a fixed charge, as most other Central Otago property owners did, a report from water services manager Quentin Adams said.
It meant some entities, for example Ripponvale, got a "very good deal" on water fees. Ripponvale properties used on average 460cu m per house, which was 50% more than the typical property, and paid less than $400 per house. A house in the district under the standard rating structure using this much water would pay nearly $600 for the same amount of water.
The charges were increased in 2017-18 to be more equitable, but they were not communicated to those in the schemes and householders complained.
