What’s in a name?... something for all ratepayers
It may be a bit of a mouthful, but Masterton District Council’s Revenue and Financing Policy Review will impact every ratepayer in the district. Consultation is now open on the Review on the Council website, with hard copy consultation documents at council offices and the library by Wednesday, 25 October 2023. This process is often called a rating review, but it incorporates all sources of funding. The policy sets out how the Council funds the services it provides, and then how the ratepayer share is divided up. It’s not a review of how much money is spent on what – that will be part of the Long-Term Plan consultation in the first part of next year. There are a number of proposed changes to the way the funding pie is divided: maximising user fees, where this is achievablechanging the way costs are shared for things like the Christmas Parade, Cultural Festival, support for residents’ associations, and grants to community groupschanging the allocation of roading costs between urban and rural ratepayersincreasing the rural share of costs for repairs to rural roads damaged by stormschanging the make-up of charges for water and wastewater services for urban ratepayers.Mayor Gary Caffell said elected members of the Council had worked hard reviewing the current policy and finalising proposals to change it. “Now we want the community’s views on whether they think the proposed changes to the policy would create a fairer way to determine who pays what. “These changes will affect all ratepayers and I encourage everyone to have their say.” In deciding how to fund its services, the Council must consider: what community outcomes an activity primarily contributes towhich individuals or groups benefitthe period of time in which benefits are expected to occurthe extent to which actions or inaction of individuals or groups contribute to the need for a servicethe costs and benefits of a service, including consequences of funding the service separately to other servicesthe impact of the allocation on the current and future wellbeing of the community.Webinar A webinar providing information on the Revenue and Financing Policy Review will be held on Microsoft Teams at 6pm on Wednesday 8 November. To register to attend, and submit questions, email: clairej@mstn.govt.nz Consultation on the Revenue and Financing Policy Review closes on 20 November 2023. |
