$6m in overdue rates; ORC stands by late fee

Otago Regional Council rates of $6 million are outstanding after the due date at the end of last month.

It led to a councillor questioning whether the 10% penalty for late payments was appropriate during yesterday’s full council meeting.

For the 2020-21 year, $31,081,352 in rates was due by October 31 this year, and 81% of rates were collected on time.

All balances outstanding on November 1 were charged the penalty, which resulted in 17,748 penalty notices being sent out this year, compared with 19,505 in 2019.

It brought in an extra $484,814, or 1.56% of total rates.

Cr Kate Wilson asked staff when the council had last reconsidered the penalty rate.

While it would not amount to a lot for some individual households, 10% of rates for a hotel, or something similar, would be a large amount, she said.

The debate was kept short, as corporate services general manager Nick Donnelly replied that the council was not interested in becoming a funding mechanism for hotels.

The penalty was there as an incentive to pay on time.

It was important to remember it was a penalty rate, not an interest rate, he said.

The council had an increase in active direct debits from 12.3% last year to 13.9% this year, and there were 16,568 direct debits in place for the October 31 payment.

Of the $6million outstanding, $1,265,000 was scheduled to be paid by triannual direct debit instalments.

molly.houseman@odt.co.nz