Yesterday, the council approved its draft 2013-14 annual plan and budget, which sets the rates increase for next year. The draft plan will go out for public consultation on Friday, submissions closing on April 22. Waitaki Mayor Alex Familton said the rates proposal had come from a great deal of teamwork between councillors and staff and described it as ''an excellent result''.
''There is a very good balance of [new] project and prudence,'' he said at yesterday's meeting.
The 3.5% increase is in the total rates the council will collect, increasing from $27.21 million this year to $28.159 million next financial year.
However, the increase in individual rates will vary from property to property, some affected by new valuations.
An Oamaru residential property with a capital value of $245,000 will have only a 0.2% increase, from $2200 to $2205, while another with a value of $89,000 has no increase at all, its rates remaining at $1803.
In comparison, in Oamaru a commercial property with a new capital value of $390,000 has a 14.4% increase from $4045 to $4626 while another with a $4.325 million value rises 21.3% from $28,501 to $34,579.
The effect on residential properties in rural towns varies, the biggest being whether they are on the list for water upgrades to meet new Government drinking water standards.
For example, a residential property with a capital value of $280,000 in Ohau Village has a rates reduction of 4.2%, from $1596 this year to a proposed $1529 next year while in contrast a $165,000 property at Maheno has a 4.9% increase from $944 to $990.
An anomaly is residential properties at Moeraki, some of which have experienced a major fall in property values because of land stability issues. There, a residential property which has fallen $55,000 in capital value to $200,000 has a proposed rates decrease of 11.8%, from $2630 this year to $2320.
The agricultural sector has also seen fluctuations, particularly between properties that have risen in value against others that have fallen in the latest valuations.
A $13.4 million Papakaio farm (whose value has risen $2.45 million) faces a 25.2% proposed increase in rates, from $23,439 to $29,346, while a $6.475 million property at Waiareka (value up by $1.125 million) increases 24.3%, from $11,404 to $14,177.
In contrast, a $5.7 million farm which has decreased $900,000 in value in the upper Waitaki Valley experiences a 10% rates decrease from $14,779 to $13,304 and another at Awamoko valued at $1.95 million (a $150,000 decrease) falls 3.9% from $5955 to $5723.david.bruce@odt.co.nz
