Carterton’s Urban Ratepayers To Cop Double-Digit Rates Rise

Thursday, 8 May 2025, 8:23 pm
Article: Emily Ireland - Local Democracy Reporter

Despite Carterton’s rate take signalled to rise 8.6%, urban ratepayers will likely cop twice that.

At Wednesday’s Risk and Assurance Committee, Carterton councillor Steve Laurence said the council was facing reputational risk with the incoming rates rise due to increased depreciation funding for water assets.

“We are telling people, and they are expecting, an increase of 8.6%, but in fact almost everybody in urban Carterton is going to get a rates rise of about twice that,” he said.

He declared a conflict of interest as a commercial ratepayer before saying the commercial rates rise would likely be 25%, “on top of the 25% increase last year”.

“I’m not sure that is the best possible sector to be dealing with that.”

The draft annual plan was included in the agenda for the committee meeting but the rates examples page was blank.

The estimated rates intake rise for the 2025-26 year in the Long-Term Plan was about 13% but the council had found savings to bring it to 8.6%.

Deputy Mayor Steve Cretney said because of this, the council’s reputational risk had “reduced somewhat”, but he understood where Laurence was coming from.

Council chief executive Geoff Hamilton said the council’s depreciation reserves for waters was “depleted”.

The council was currently charging 50% depreciation and this would increase to 75% in 2025-26 and 100% the year after.

Hurunui-o-Rangi Marae representative Marty Sebire said “to an extent, the chickens are coming home to roost from a decision in 2012 when it was decided to not fully fund depreciation and so the reserve hasn’t built up”.

“And again in 2018 when there was a decision to fund even less depreciation.

“They were political decisions, not accounting decisions.”

Lawrence said because water assets were urban, the 8.6% overall rates rise meant “practically zero” rates rises for rural properties, and “twice that 8.6% in the urban area”.

Councillor Grace Ayling agreed that the reality of the 8.6% rates rise was a “huge reputational risk”.

“It’s little comfort to anyone who will receive their rates bill who had a whopping bill last year and the year before and the year before.

“We’re taking from the same pool of people that can’t afford this level of rates increase.

“The fact that there has been a theoretical 5% saving doesn’t make people feel happier and the 8.6 is more like 15% for a lot of people who live in town which is half of our constituents.”

She said the council was “living outside its means and continually putting money into projects that aren’t waters, roading, and key infrastructure”.

“Our ratepayers can’t afford to keep doing this.”

The final Draft Annual Plan 2025-26 would be presented to council for adoption on May 14.

Subsequent to the adoption of the Annual Plan, the rates resolution for setting the 2025/26 rates would also be presented for adoption.

– LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.

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