Waitaki ratepayers could see their rates bill increase over the next few years to pay for improved roads.
The Waitaki District Council received 65 responses to its survey for its submission to the Regional Land Transport Plan 2018-21, most of them in favour of its proposal to increase spending on roads, council roading manager Michael Voss said yesterday.
The council received "roughly" the number of submissions it expected in its two-week consultation on the proposed 4.35% rates increase over three years, starting next year, Mr Voss said.
While the council "always" wanted more submissions, he said it had received "some excellent ideas that need digesting" during the consultation period which ended July 7.
The council surveyed residents online asking whether they supported increased spending on widening high-risk sealed rural roads, using more gravel on high-priority rural roads and the smoothing of rural and urban roads.
An analysis of the submissions would be presented to councillors at the council’s August 2 meeting, Mr Voss said. The council proposed increasing rates about 1.5% each year to take in an extra $1.305million over three years, starting in 2018, to attract $1.595million more in NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) funding. This would allow the council to follow through on its $2.9million proposal to improve roads in the 2018-21 period.
The council’s recently completed draft roading business case 2018-21 makes an argument for
$36,712,267 in spending by district ratepayers and the NZTA over the three years on Waitaki roads — a 12% increase on the 2015-18 funding.
Late last month Waitaki Mayor Gary Kircher said spending more on roads was a "no-brainer as far as I’m concerned".
The draft business case notes ratepayer satisfaction with roads is low in the Waitaki district — "customer satisfaction in 2012-13 dropped significantly down to 39% and remains low at 35% in 2015-16", the council document reads.
