However, his colleagues may need a lot of convincing.
Cr Andrew Whiley, who this week voted against adoption of a zero-carbon plan and abstained from two votes about plan implementation, floated the possibility of a levy specifically to fund climate action.
If the Dunedin City Council (DCC) endorses the approach, options for a flat fee charged to each property or residence might then be included in the council’s draft 2024-34 long-term plan for public consultation.
Cr Whiley was wary of adding to council debt and appeared to have reservations about decarbonisation inflating rates in general or "taking funds out of other workstreams".
He felt some councillors believed the council "should have an open chequebook" for investing in projects for the 2030 zero-carbon plan.
"The amount of work that the DCC needs to be accomplished in the next six years to meet its 2030 zero-carbon goals means that a lot of the work needs to be accelerated or is currently unbudgeted," Cr Whiley said.
"The level of funding required cannot come from current budgeted rate increases.
"With a targeted rate there can be more accurate reporting of expenditure against the funding received and clear outcomes presented to the community."
Targeted rates are usually applied to areas that benefit from a service, such as from kerbside recycling.
However, the Auckland Council last year brought in a climate-action targeted rate to raise $574million over 10 years for climate work.
The Dunedin City Council voted 11-4 on Monday to adopt its zero-carbon plan and then 9-5 to support a high-investment path as its preferred option for public consultation. A medium-investment scenario will be presented as an alternative.
Cr Steve Walker, who voted for adoption of the zero-carbon plan and for signalling implementation investment in the medium-high range, said transparency with the community did not rely on introduction of a targeted rate.
Long-term plan consultation documents already provided clear funding pathways for a multitude of city projects and objectives, he said.
"A targeted rate can or should only be used where you can define the area of benefit," Cr Walker said.
"Given that everyone will benefit from this [climate] work, you can’t really do that," he said.
"So it makes sense for it to be paid out of the general rate."
Cr Sophie Barker said the council would have to be careful about adding in targeted rates, and she would want to know what philosophy was behind any change of system.
"Is it to benefit people with higher value properties and businesses so they pay a flat rate rather than being proportionately affected by a general rates rise?
"Is a targeted rate fairer because every rating unit is paying equally, or [less fair] because there’s a disproportionate burden on people with low incomes and low-value properties?"
Cr Barker, who voted the same way as Cr Walker on the zero-carbon issue this week, said battling climate change was necessary and such a necessity needed to be embedded across the council’s work.
The council is to review its rating methods before deliberating on the draft long-term plan.
Cr Barker said she expected this to be carried out in a holistic way.
