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807 days ago

Coast council to keep ‘faith’ over rates

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from The Press

From local democracy reporter Brendon McMahon:

The West Coast Regional Council says it intends to keep "good faith" with ratepayers and not impose a further rates increase based on new capital valuations for the region.

New property valuations came in higher than expected in the 2022-23 annual plan.

The council yesterday gave notice it will reset its rates based on a yield increase of 17% against that anticipated in the 2022-23 Annual Plan from revised capital values for the region. It has called an extraordinary meeting for September 21, six days after the postal vote begins for this year's local body election.

However, it says the new valuation yield will not be reflected in this year's rates, with the "status quo" to remain.

The new valuations from QV arrived on July 1, two days after the council approved the rates rise based on what it had consulted the public with in the annual plan.

On June 28 the council approved a 10% rates increase for this financial year, but excluded a planned inflation adjustment of 2.3% which had been signalled in the long-term plan.

Last year, West Coast Regional Council rates went up 30%.

The public notice for the extraordinary meeting said the estimated rateable capital value of the West Coast had increased 15% above that used to set the general rate in June.

Chief executive Heather Mabin said the council had to set its rates to meet the statutory timeframe by the end of June, although it was aware there might also be a variation with the capital value baseline.

There had been a delay at council in being able to run the new capital valuations numbers due to an accounting system changeover at the council, she said.

As it turned out the new QV values "were much different" from what was expected, Mabin said.

Acting corporate services manager Marc Ferguson said they had done rates modelling before the system upgrade, but once the revised values were received some capital valuations had increased by as much as $10 for every $100.

Regardless of the council's intention not to pass on the yield increase this time it was required to give notice to reset the rates based on the adjusted QV values, he said.

The council proposed "in good faith" to maintain what it had previously set but against the new capital value yield figure.

"We're having to stick with the original rates amount posted in the annual plan ... it's the status quo," Ferguson said.

"It's not about us making extra money with the extra QV money."

However, notification of the first rates instalment would probably be pushed out to the end of October.

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Live Q&A: Garden maintenance with Crewcut

The Team from Neighbourly.co.nz

This Wednesday, we're having another Neighbourly Q&A session. This time with John Bracewell from Crewcut.

John Bracewell, former Black Caps coach turned Franchisee Development Manager and currently the face of Crewcut’s #Movember campaign, knows a thing or two about keeping the grass looking sharp—whether it’s on a cricket pitch or in your backyard!

As a seasoned Crewcut franchisee, John is excited to answer your lawn and gardening questions. After years of perfecting the greens on the field, he's ready to share tips on how to knock your garden out of the park. Let's just say he’s as passionate about lush lawns as he is about a good game of cricket!

John is happy to answer questions about lawn mowing, tree/hedge trimming, tidying your garden, ride on mowing, you name it! He'll be online on Wednesday, 27th of November to answer them all.

Share your question below now ⬇️

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6 days ago

Poll: When should the tree go up? 🎄

The Team from Neighbourly.co.nz

From what we've heard, some Christmas trees are already being assembled and decorated.

What are your thoughts on the best time to get your Christmas tree up?

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When should the tree go up? 🎄
  • 4.6% Second half of November
    4.6% Complete
  • 43.5% 1st December
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  • 17.4% A week before Christmas
    17.4% Complete
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    33.3% Complete
  • 1.1% Other - I'll share below
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2327 votes
5 days ago

What's your favourite tomato recipe?

Mei Leng Wong Reporter from NZ Gardener & Get Growing

Kia ora neighbours. We know your tomato plants are still growing, but we're looking ahead to the harvest already! If you've got a family recipe for tomatoes, we'd love to see it and maybe publish it in our magazine to share with our readers. Send your recipe to mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz, and if we use it in the mag, you will receive a free copy of our February 2025 issue.

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