Unexpected anomalies to Queenstown Lakes District Council rates were addressed yesterday by the council and a proposed solution adopted.
The proposal, which will now be subject to community consultation, will result in reductions to three capital value-based rates and the adoption of two new fixed-charge rates to deal with "district-wide rating anomalies".
This comes after last week's confirmation from QLDC that in the first rates instalment, some property rates were found to increase or drop by more than 20%.
Acting chief executive Stewart Burns told the council yesterday there would be an online estimator for ratepayers to use, which would tell them what the changes would mean and hopefully "eliminate unexpected consequences".
The proposal would see a reduction to the Recreation and Events, Regulatory and Governance rates and mean two new fixed charge rates - Recreation and Events and Regulatory and Governance would be combined.
So, instead of collecting all of the rates based on value, there would be an element of fixed charge for ratepayers.
Under the proposal, the percentage of properties where rates rose or fell by 20% would reduce from 14.6% to 7.9%. Most properties remaining in the 20% plus range would be those which had changed activities for rating purposes: they had been developed; had a change of use; or where additional council services had been provided and charged.
QLDC planned to send an outline of the proposal to all ratepayers and Mr Burns estimated the public consultation would cost between $10,000 and $15,000.
He added the "cold comfort" fact that QLDC was not the only local government in the country that had been tripped, but did not specify further.
The council would also extend the time for the second rates instalment from November 23 to December 7 to allow for full public input.
Ratepayers had, however, been asked to pay the first instalment, due September 21, with any adjustments to be made for the second instalment.
Submissions would be open early next week online and at the council library building.
