Southland
Southland District Council’s Community and Strategy Committee is being asked to consider draft changes to the Stewart Island/Rakiura Visitor Levy Policy and Bylaw, which would be put out for public consultation.
The draft changes include an increase in the levy from the current $5 per visitor to $15.
The Empowering Act adopted by Parliament in 2012 enables Council to set and collect levies from passengers travelling to Stewart Island/Rakiura, to help fund services, facilities, and amenities for visitors while they are on the island.
The act is required because Stewart Island/Rakiura has a small resident population, which is unable to fund the facilities required by the large number of short-term visitors to the island.
Since the levy became operative in October 2013 the levy has remained at $5 per visitor. The levy is not collected from residents, visitors under 18 years old and in some other circumstances.
Since then more than $1.2 million has been collected and just over $1 million has been allocated for a wide range of infrastructure improvements, operational costs and other island projects.
The bylaw and policy were last reviewed in 2018/2019, when Council endorsed keeping the levy at $5 until a strategic review of service delivery to Stewart Island/Rakiura was completed. As a result of the review, it has been projected that the current visitor levy is unlikely to be sufficient to fund the future cost of visitor-related activities. The proposal to increase to $15 is considered to achieve a balance between the cost of projects scheduled for the island, and the impact of these costs on ratepayers, without negatively affecting visitor demand for the island.
During a pre-consultation engagement with members of the island community and external stakeholders in September 2021 most respondents said they favoured an increase, although the preferred amount of the increase varied.
The Community and Strategy Committee is being asked to consider recommending to Council an increase in the levy to $15 per visitor. If this happens and Council endorses the proposal to amend the draft policy and bylaw, anyone would be able to provide feedback on this proposal during a formal consultation process. Formal consultation is scheduled for 1-31 March 2022.
The committee will discuss the recommendation at its meeting on 1 February 2022.