Annual Plan 2023/24 adopted

On Tuesday 13 June, Stratford District Council adopted its Annual Plan 2023/24 after considering public feedback. Some amendments to proposed Fees and Charges were made, and Councillors agreed to provide an in-house Learn to Swim service. Details of these decisions are provided below.

The proposed rate increase of 8.9% was confirmed as part of this adoption. The actual increase for each ratepayer will vary depending on the different rates charged to that property. We’ve provided some sample rates at the end of this update.

District Mayor Neil Volzke says feedback received highlighted the balancing act Council juggles with when reviewing the annual budget. “Some people are happy to see user charges increase in areas because they don’t use the service, but people using the service of course don’t want to see fees increase – it’s a common issue and one Council has to try and draw a happy medium from,” he says.

“We’ve done a lot of work to reduce the rate increase to 8.9% from the starting figure of 16.5% we faced earlier in the year. And we understand that still won’t be low enough for many. I encourage anyone who is concerned about making payments to talk to our staff about the options available to support.”

Learn to Swim Service

In response to the current swim school provider leaving Wai o Rua – Stratford Aquatic Centre from the end of Term 2, Councillors discussed possible options to move forward and collectively decided to bring the service in-house.

Mayor Volzke says Council believed they had a social responsibility to ensure children in the district could learn to swim.

“We had three options to talk through: doing nothing, delivering the service in-house, or finding an alternative external supplier. When it comes to the safety of our kids, doing nothing wasn’t a viable option, and Council felt that our staff at Wai o Rua – Stratford Aquatic Centre would be able to provide a learn to swim service from the beginning of Term 3.”

More details on the learn to swim service starting Term 3 will be available before the end of June, once the team have worked through the finer details. We ask that people be patient while this service gets up and running. You can also keep an eye on waiorua.govt.nz or their Facebook page for details in the coming weeks.

Changes to Fees & Charges Schedule

Swimming Pool

• Removed the proposed spectator fee, this will remain free of charge in 2023/24.
• Replaced the existing short term and long term membership options with x25 and x50 Concession Entry options. This has been applied for both casual entry and group fitness entry use.
• Removed discount for whole pool hire as this has been found to negatively impact public use.
• Added discounted entry fee options for Swimming Club high users - Multiple entries per week at a discounted price of $6 (2 entries per week), $9 (3 entries per week) and $12 (4+ entries per week). Some of these had previously been in place but are now being formalised.
• The proposed discounted lane hire fee for external Learn to Swim providers was removed. Lane hire for private use is covered.
• The introduction of a Learn to Swim fee of $100/term. This matches the existing service fee. This fee is based on a 10-week term. Where a term is longer or shorter, the above fee will be adjusted on a pro-rata basis. This excludes entry fees, normal casual or concession based entry fees apply.
• The fee for a Caregiver/Parent supervising a child under 8 years of age (read our active supervision rules here) was adopted as proposed. This is 50% of the Adult entry fee. This entry fee only applies to caregivers getting in the water to supervise.

Library and Visitor Information Centre

• The addition of ticket booking fees:
  • Commission (per ticket sold) $1.50
  • Credit Card payments via phone (per ticket) of $2.00 per ticket, capped at $10
  • General booking fee $2 for travel related bookings such as accommodation, bus, ferry etc

All other proposals as part of the draft Annual Plan were adopted as is. This included amended fees and charges under Dog Registrations, Cemeteries, Building Services and Health Licences, and an increase in the money collected through the Roading Targeted Rate Differential for forestry properties at $250,000 per year.

The Annual Plan 2023/24 will come into effect from 1 July 2023. The full Fees & Charges schedule is attached here.

How much rates you pay can depend on a number of things like:

• The value of your property
• The services your property receives
• How many dwellings are on the property