Councillors will meet next week to adopt Christchurch City Council’s Annual Plan for 2023/24, which has a proposed overall average 6.33% rates increase.

The Annual Plan 2023/24 contains Christchurch City Council’s budget for the coming year and outlines what the Council will invest in, and how it will pay for it.

If adopted by Councillors at the Tuesday 27 June meeting without change, the rates increase for the average residential ratepayer will be 6.52%, or an extra $3.97 a week. The overall increase will vary across the city due to the impact of recent general property revaluations undertaken by Quotable Value Limited (QV).

Read the report prepared for the meeting. 

Resources General Manager and Chief Financial Officer Leah Scales says the focus of the Draft Annual Plan released for public consultation in March was keeping rates increases down while delivering the basics and continuing to invest in the city’s future.

“The rising cost of living that we’re seeing around New Zealand and the world was top of mind as we developed this year’s budget – people have told us affordability is an issue and we have done our very best to respond, at a time when it’s needed most.

“The projected rates increases have fluctuated throughout the process, due mostly to outside factors that are impacting not just the Council but our residents as well. The Council is doing all it can to reduce the rates increases – from 14.6% in late 2022, 5.58% in March 2023, and 7.88% in June, to our latest position of 6.33%,” Ms Scales says.

“After a lot of hard work and tough conversations, councillors and staff have arrived at an overall average 6.33% rates increase that’s below the 6.7% rate of inflation.

“This is an impressive achievement considering the wider economic context, the increases other councils are seeing, the demands of a growing city, and some of the curveballs thrown at us as we’ve gone through this process.”

Since the draft budget went out for feedback in March, factors like new Government water regulations and a significant increase in the living wage have come into play that will affect the Council’s bottom line.

“We’re trying every option available to us to lessen some of the impact of these outside factors on our residents, including making use of additional one-off revenue receipts. Normally, we’d use these receipts to pay off debt or reduce rates in the following year,” Ms Scales says.

Councillors will also consider some of the most talked about issues that will affect next year’s rates. Based on the more than 800 submissions from the public, staff have made some recommendations on matters including the Excess Water Supply Targeted Rate average daily allowance, the Uniform Annual General Charge proposed at $153, and an extra $36 million capital spend on Christchurch’s transport network.

A list of changes recommended by the Mayor are also on the table for discussion.

Tuesday’s Council meeting will kick off in the Council Chamber at 9.30am, and will be livestreamed.

SOURCE: Christchurch City Council