The Southland District Council is proposing a major change to the way it levies local rates.
After a representation review earlier this year, the council cut the number of wards within its boundaries from 12 to five and now plans to reorganise its ward rating system to match.
Councillors voted last week to adopt a new system whereby all property owners within each of the new wards would pay ward rates based on the land value of their properties. The proposal will go out for consultation next year.
The change would affect some ratepayers who at present did not pay ward rates, customer and financial services group manager Bede Carran said.
But he said the system was the fairest way to ensure there was a transparent correlation between representational and taxation boundaries.
In addition to paying ward rates, property owners who live within towns or communities which have community boards or community development area subcommittees will also pay another more localised levy.
However, Mr Carran said the amount paid in total was likely to be more or less the same, as ward rates would be spread across a larger number of ratepayers and could be less per property than currently.
Council transactional accountant Jamie Cunningham said while there would be ''winners and losers'' under the new system, a desktop modelling exercise showed the impact would be ''minor''.
The exact amounts to be levied in each ward for the 2014-15 financial year, which starts in July next year, would not be known until ward budgets had been set, and that would not happen until early next year, he said.
