27 June 2008

Kapiti keeps rates increase under 5%

Kapiti Coast District Council finalised its Annual Plan for 2008/09 today and set an average rates increase for the district, after allowing for the increase in the rating base, of 4.78%.

“The Council worked very hard in its first nine months in office to produce an affordable but effective annual plan,” Mayor Jenny Rowan said. “I believe we can be pretty satisfied we have set the programme for the immediate future and kept the increase at an affordable level.

“With inflation running at 3.5% the increase over and above that is only 1.28%,” Mayor Rowan said.

Funding has been allocated to progress a review of the storage, management and supply of water which will be a significant part of the the Community Plan disucssions later this year.

“The major focus in the Annual Plan is assets and roading projects including the Western Link Road which total almost $14 million. Stormwater projects throughout the District account for almost $5 million and while work on Council’s infrastructural assets requires more than $9 million in expenditure.

“We’ve also taken major steps on the Aquatic Centre by signalling our $2.5 million commitment for this year and confirming our $10.5 million commitment overall.

“We’re funding the appointment of a person to work with community groups to assist them in accessing the many opportunities there are for funding from central government and other sources.

“I’m very pleased we’ve managed to allocate $100,000 to develop a new internet website for the Council. The existing site tries hard but this funding will provide the resources to develop a new site which is more in tune with the needs of today’s e-government,” Mayor Rowan said.

“We’ve also approved the funding for the establishment of new energy saving initiatives and we’re well on the way to the establishment of our Elder Council.

“With the completion of the Annual Plan, we can now look forward to working with the community on the review of the Community Plan.”

ENDS

Ann_Plan_Rates_Summary.pdf

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