Rating review aims at fairer and simpler rates

The Far North District Council is seeking feedback on how to make the rating system fairer and more transparent as part of work to develop the next Long Term Plan 2021-31.

The Long Term Plan (LTP) is the Council’s guiding document that sets out key plans and proposals for the next 10 years.

The Council relies on a mix of rates, subsidies, fees and charges to fund services in the district. It has come up with a suite of possible options to make the rating system fairer and simpler. These include moving as many rates as possible into the general rate and using capital values of properties rather than land values to calculate rates. To ease the transition to capital value rating, the change would be applied over 10 years.

The Council is keen to get public feedback on each of these ideas and is asking that people rank the options in order of preference in an online survey. The feedback will help staff and elected members decide on a formal proposal that the Council will take to public consultation in March 2021. Go to www.fndc.govt.nz/ratesreview2021 to provide feedback on the options.

The Council is also inviting the public to provide input on guiding principles of the Long Term Plan 2021-31, including community outcomes and strategic priorities. These priorities include protecting water supplies, adapting to climate change and enabling sustainable economic development. 

Mayor John Carter says the LTP affects all ratepayers and communities across the district and he is urging Far North residents to use the informal engagement period to help the Council focus on issues they believe are most important.

“This process will help shape how our district develops over the next decade. Before we launch formal consultations in early 2021, we want to ensure everyone has an opportunity to consider what the key issues are so they can then make detailed submissions based on priorities and outcomes they are familiar with.” 

To help people focus on the key issues and explore what community wellbeing means to Far North residents, the Council has launched a collaborative digital ‘ideas wall’. This makes it easy for anyone, anywhere to share ideas on what cultural, economic, environmental and social wellbeing means to them. Contributors can ‘like’ suggestions and ideas and help generate discussion. 

The informal feedback period is open now and runs until Friday 13 November. People are encouraged to provide feedback through the Council website at www.fndc.govt.nz/ltp2021-31. The formal consultation for the Long Term Plan 2021-31 will be held in March 2021.