Many Otago ratepayers could be better off in the coming year, with the Otago Regional Council proposing a rate decrease of 3.86% on last year.
However, the drop is the result of a proposal to have consent-holders pay half the cost of their compliance monitoring, audit work and inspections of dairy effluent discharges under a proposal in the council's 2008-09 draft annual plan.
The council will discuss the draft annual plan and proposed amendments to the 2006-16 Long Term Council Community Plan (LTCCP) at a meeting tomorrow.
Director corporate services Wayne Scott said the key contributor to the rate decrease was the proposed change to the compliance monitoring revenue policy, which provided for $425,000 to be funded by fees and charges. Previously, those costs were funded by general rates.
Without the change in policy, general rates for 2008-09 would increase by 5.4% from last year, he said. In the 2007-08 year, rates went up by 3.85%.
Some of the major projects proposed to be funded in the coming year included $300,000 towards a new two-year clean air project within Central Otago and $200,000 towards a long-term bulk rural water project to forecast demand for water requirements.
The draft also included a proposed 25% increase in bus fares, starting this July 1 - the first increase since 2003 - and the already confirmed $150,000 increase in funding to $250,000 for the Otago Emergency Rescue Helicopter service.
A three-year project to remove willows and complete the investigation and design of the Shotover Delta was budgeted to cost $600,000 for 2008-09. It would be recovered from targeted rates.
Improvements to bus services during the past year and further proposed improvements, including increasing the proportion of accessible buses, would contribute to a 42% increase in the transport rate - $3.4 million compared with $2.4 million in 2007-08.
Alongside the annual plan process was the need for the LTCCP to be amended to include proposals to change the compliance monitoring structure and funding the Awatea St stadium.
There was no financial impact on the draft plan for 2008-09 if the stadium did go ahead.
Another amendment would provide for dividing Queenstown Lakes District river management targeted rating area into two - Wakatipu and Wanaka - for a more equitable allocation of costs.
If adopted by the committee, the draft plan will be discussed at the full council meeting on March 26, before being opened to public submissions on May 9.
