Proposed restructure to Tararua District Council Fees

Published 30 May 2022

As part of the Annual Plan 2022/23 consultation, new fees are proposed for a lot of our current services. These fees continue the strategy outlined in our 2018 Long Term Plan to move towards user pays/cost recovery model where possible.

As a result, we have re-thought some of our existing fee structures, added new fee categories and increased fees in some areas, as we move towards this model.

The 2022/23 fees and charges are scheduled for adoption at the Council meeting in June and if approved, will come into effect on 1 July 2022. Only the Dog registration fees as published below in the Dog Registration Fees article at the bottom of this page, were adopted at the Council meeting of 25 May 2022.

The proposed key fees changes are:

- Cemetery Fees are proposed to increase across the board. This is part of Council’s plan to move to a cost recovery model in our fees.

- Connection of utility services are proposed to increase across the board due to continued supply issues. There will also no longer be an option for extraordinary users to connect to our water supply.

- Proposed change to the fee structure for hiring parks and reserves. This is to encourage all organisations or groups to hire our parks, we have added a standard charge for all casual hirers.  

- Proposed increases in Building Fees across the board including Building Packet requests. This fee has historically been subsidised by rate payers. Council is continuing to transition to a user pays, cost recovery fee structure and in this Annual Plan we have introduced a larger increase.  

- We have created new Dog Registration Fee categories. We have added a couple of extra dog registration categories to provide more options for our residents. (see below)

- Planning fees have been reviewed and New District Planning fees are proposed to cater for the wide range of services that Council provides. A review of our existing fees has resulted in a proposed increase across the board to more accurately reflect the time and effort required for these services.

- Solid waste / refuse disposal fees are proposed to increase. Contractor costs have increased and so has the cost of disposing of our rubbish waste.