Important Issues To Discuss At Gore District Council Meeting

Gore’s rates are set to double, with the council proposing an 11.56% increases as it tackles rising interest rates and a tight employment market.

The district council will need an extra $900,000 in rates funding in the coming financial year to service its loans at the higher interest rates of up around 4.26% on average.

Overall, the GDC is budgeting to collect an additional $2.29m in rates in the 2023/24 financial year. This will be decided by the council at its monthly meeting tomorrow (Tuesday May 30).

To keep the rates increase down, the council will consider increasing fees and charges for some services.

One area is waste disposal fees at the Gore Transfer Stations. The Government is increasing its waste disposal levy from $30 per tonne to $50 per tonne from 1 July this year. This increase means the GDC will pay an estimated $2.48m next year to get rid of waste at the Southland landfill.

Council will consider increasing transfer station fees by 30%, which would place costs with the user and encourage waste minimisation.

Delaying the rollout of a new kerbside recycling service is another option to keep the proposed rates increase at 11.56%.

Meanwhile, the council will also be considering the new terms of reference from Local Government New Zealand as it begins to ‘reset, rebuild, reconcile and redeem’ itself.

Linda Clark, a partner at Dentons Kensington Swan, in Wellington will be carrying out council’s independent review, due to completed by September.

She has been involved in other recent reviews such as the Upper Hutt City Council and how it managed on-going noise complaints involving a local factory.

The $130,000 review will involve conducting interviews with Mayor Ben Bell • Deputy Mayor Keith Hovell • Elected Councillors • Senior executive staff employed by the Council • Members of the Mataura Community Board • Representatives of the local rūnanga • Any other person the reviewer considers relevant.

Once completed the final report will be presented to the full council and published.