Environment Southland (ES) is to hold this years general rate increase to an average of 5%.

The 2022-2023 increase is in line with ES's long term plan. It follows last years 20% increase which was toted as a one-off reset to balance the budget and undertake the increasing amount of work the council is required to do.

ES Chairman Nicol Horrell said councillors were committed to keeping the increase to a maximum of 5%, despite an increasing number of financial challenges and many other councils around the country being forced to introduce rates increases higher than those set in their Long-term Plans.

“We are operating in a really challenging environment and it’s difficult to make decisions with any level of certainty, but we agreed last year that our ratepayers need some clarity about rate increases and we’re determined to stick to that,” Horrell said.

“In the past year, we’ve only seen things become more challenging with a range of increasing costs, including construction costs, fuel and inflation. 

 “We understand that our ratepayers are also facing a big increase in general costs of living and we are trying to keep rates increases to the absolute minimum.”

The council doesn’t expect to consult on this year’s Annual Plan, as there are no significant changes which trigger the need for consultation, he said.

A huge amount of work went into the 2021-31 Long-term Plan, which sets out the work programme and costs for the next 10 years, with a particular focus on the first three.

The Long-term Plan was developed during a time of uncertainty due to Covid and its impact on things like cruise ship revenue and investment income.

“We still have no certainty about when cruise ships will return and to what level they will return, so we have to budget without this significant income stream.”

The war in Ukraine and global disruption as a result of Covid continue to contribute to uncertainty with investment income.

The Southland District Council recently announced a 9.22% increase in rates for the 2022-2023 year, which was almost 11% higher than their long-term plan had forecast for this year. They have no plans to conduct a public consultation.