Council has adopted new Fees and Charges for the 2025/2026 year at its May meeting.

Every year Council reviews its fees and charges. Fees and charges are used to support the operation and maintenance of a variety of services provided to the community. They are set on a user-pays basis so that the costs passed onto ratepayers are kept to a minimum where possible.

Some adjustments have been made to the proposed Fees and Charges, which was consulted on from Monday 7 April until Wednesday 7 May 2025.

Some key changes for 2025-2026 include:

General increase: Most fees not set by statute are to increase by 2.2 percent to account for current inflation, in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

Dog fees: The permit fee for keeping more than two dogs in a residential area are set at $180 (this is a one-off fee per property reflecting actual costs to permit). The non-working dogs annual registration fee is set at $78, and working dogs annual registration fee is set at $51, an increase of 2.2 percent (CPI).

Temporary road closures: Bond for temporary road closures is set at $6000 to $10,000 for high risk events and an introduction of a temporary road closure inspections fee of $897. Elected members agreed that these fees may be waived for charitable and not-for-profit events.

Starting 1 July 2025 and phased in over three years, domestic food businesses will be charged a Domestic Food Business Levy that Kaipara District Council will collect on the behalf of Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI).

Fees and Charges for 2025/2026 come into effect from Tuesday 1 July 2025. You can read the full Fees and Charges document at kaipara.govt.nz/fees-charges

View the council discussion and decision on the Kaipara District Council YouTube channel (from 1:15:52).

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