25 June 2004

Manukau Sets Rates Rise At 2%

Manukau City Council has set its overall rates rise for the 2004/5 financial year at an average of 2%.

The Council’s income is projected to be a quarter of a billion dollars of which $165 million is from land rates.

Mayor Sir Barry Curtis says as usual the majority of Council’s spending will be on the basics. “Every year most of our spending is on core services including building roads, wastewater and water supply facilities, planning, regulating and waste removal, and operating community facilities such as swimming pools and libraries.”

The biggest individual expenditure projects will include construction of the $12.7 million Mountfort Park swimming pool complex in Manurewa, the Waiouru interchange to link the southern motorway with the Waiouru Peninsula, and the new Botany Library at Botany Town Centre.

This year 583 public submissions were received on the draft Annual Plan. Sir Barry says that is less than last year, but the contents of those submissions were largely constructive and well thought-out.

Over the coming year the Council will spend approximately $140 million on new assets such as roading, pools and parks. Roading is the biggest single category of asset expenditure at $44 million, followed by parks (16), pools (11), wastewater (8.9), storm water (8.6), libraries and learning centres (8.7), properties (8.3), water (8), town centre development (8), and other (18.3).

Other features of the plan include a fall in the cost of water. Manukau Water is to pass on a price adjustment from Water care by reducing its charges to the public to 1.065 cents per cubic metre.

$500,000 is be spent renovating the Star of the Sea in Howick, with $150,000 per annum budgeted for the Howick Historic Village to operate it for the next three years.

Clendon Library – the council and community’s preferred option is for a new purpose built library to be developed to replace the existing library when its lease expires.

Following submissions from ratepayers, purpose built residential buildings in business zones will be rated under residential provisions, and not charged business rates.

Flat Bush – Council has agreed in principle to form a Council Controlled Organisation to prudently manage the development of 25 hectares of Council land in Flat Bush, where 45,000 people are expected to live within 10 years.

An indoor skate park (the first of its kind in Manukau) will be developed in Otara.

An additional $60,000 to support the Ellerslie Flower Show.

The general rate is forecast to contribute $115 million of total income. Other major sources include wastewater rates ($39 million), subsidies and contributions (32.1) other fees and charges (52.5) water charges (30.2), refuse collection rates (11.20), and dividend and interest income (7).

Rates are based on land value and just under two thirds of the projected total revenue income comes from residential rates. There are 88,754 individual residential ratepayers out of a total of 96,500 ratepayers and they pay $119.5 million in total.

Businesses provide $61 million of Council revenue and the majority are in Otara, Manurewa, Mangere and Papatoetoe. The Council receives just over $4.6 million from rural ratepayers.

Among the wards, Manurewa ward provides the highest amount of total rates income at just over $42.8 million.

ENDS

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