Changes to property values shown in rates increases

Late last year QV undertook their three-yearly revaluation of properties in Westland District, which has caused property values to increase. For some ratepayers this will have a big impact on their rates. Council bases the general rate on the capital value of the property as this is considered a fair way to spread the rate burden across properties. Properties with higher capital values pay more of the general rate.

The rates bill is made up of five factors: Capital value (the QV value that has been updated), the property category such as residential, what services your property receives such as Council water supply, where in the district you live, and the budget Council sets as part of the Annual or Long-term planning process.

This year Council advised that the main driving forces behind the budget increases were for three waters, particularly funding the depreciation for these assets and the increasing costs of testing implemented by Government policy, as well as small increases to the general rates, Uniform Annual General Charge (UAGC) and Community Rates.

In 2023/2024 Council stopped funding the depreciation on three waters assets because there was no expectation of any future spend once those assets were transferred to the new entity under the Three Waters Reform legislation. This reduced the expected average rate increase from about 16% to less than 1%. Now that the Government’s policy has changed and Council will retain the assets, the depreciation has been reinstated. Depreciation is collected where Council expects to replace assets, such as water pipes, at the end of their useful life. Without the collection of depreciation throughout the life of the asset Council would have to use other means to replace assets.

Since 2022 Council has been required to comply with the Drinking Water Quality Assurance Rules. We must now take samples from source water, which was not the case under previous rules, as well as increased sampling in the distribution zone for water. This has increased the sampling we do throughout the year by 4,263 samples, at an associated cost increase. The operational cost for sampling is 400% higher than before the 2022 Rules were imposed.

For a real-life example of what these changes will look like, we have taken a Residential Hokitika property. This property was valued at $205,000 between 2020/2021 and 2023/2024, and following the three-yearly revaluation it is now worth $330,000 – the value has increased 61% and this affects the amount of general rate paid.

The factors that affect this property are:

What does this look like to the ratepayer?

The impact of the reinstatement of three waters depreciation is the greatest increase for this ratepayer. However, the increase in their property value can be seen in the increase to their general rate.

If three waters depreciation was not being funded their rates would still increase, due to changes in the capital value and Council’s budget:

Hokitika Museum celebrates Archaeology Week

Exposed Histories at Mahitahi / Bruce Bay

Kāti Maahaki, Te Rūnanga o Makaawhio, Poutini Ngai Tahu, Hokitika Museum, Department of Conservation

In 1985 archaeological remains were discovered in an exposed midden near Heretaniwha Stream in Mahitahi/Bruce Bay. Department of Conservation archaeologist Ray Hooker and Kevin Jones excavated the midden and documented the artefacts, six of which were deposited at Hokitika Museum.

To mark NZ Archaeology Week 2024, Hokitika Museum arranged for the artefacts to revisit their place of origin at Mahitahi/Bruce Bay. The selection of adzes, grindstones and a drill tip were presented at a wānanga that followed the Anzac Day commemorations at the Marae on 25 April. With a good crowd in attendance, it was an opportunity to reconnect the artefacts with iwi and share knowledge about the tūpuna that created them.

In a joint presentation, Hokitika Museum Director Laureen Sadlier examined the role of museum collecting practices, and Ngati Maahaki historian Paul Madgwick explained the settlement and significance of Mahitahi to the people of Makaawhio. DOC heritage advisor Tom Barker interpreted the archaeological data for the area, which included the excavations of Haast in 1868, Hooker and Jones from the 1985 dig, and the Ngai Tahu Heritage Unit work led by Brian Allingham in 1999.

An interesting discussion followed as people remembered working on the dig with the DOC archaeologists twenty-five years ago. The Heretaniwha archaeological site is one of many known in the area, and excitement mounted when a previously unknown midden site was mentioned by an older resident.

Laureen Sadlier noted that the event was an important milestone for Hokitika Museum, ‘As kaitiaki of these taonga, it is crucial to keep these connections warm and alive. A museum collection should never grow cold’.

Photos and Text – supplied by Hokitika Museum

Local Hero Award

Mayor Helen Lash presented Hari Hari resident Helene Hindman with her 2023 Local Hero Award on 17 April at the Hari Hari Community Meeting. Helene received the award to recognise her tireless dedication to the creation, development, enhancement, and maintenance of the Hari Hari community park. The park stands as a testament to her dedication, providing an excellent setting for both locals and visitors in a serene ambience. It’s a place cherished by all – young and old. Her selfless efforts have gifted Hari Hari with something truly remarkable.

South Westland Area School have taken the park on as a special interest project, helping to weed and maintain it and adding more art.

The latest project ‘The Chair’ will be covered in ceramics when it is completed.

Photos Judy Cardno and Sarah Brown

The many ‘R’s of managing waste

Reduce, reuse and recycle are familiar to most of us, and the more we can do this and the less waste we send to the landfill the lower the cost in Waste Levy and Carbon Credits.

These days the three R’s is considered a bit simplistic – there are so many more ways that we can make changes in the way we manage waste. The three Rs have expanded into five R’s, adding in ‘Refuse’ and ‘Repurpose’.

Refuse sounds simple enough, minimise waste by refusing it in the first place, for example, single-use packaging or things that have more packaging than necessary. If possible, find an alternative.

But repurposing can be easier said than done, that one can take a bit more thought and time. Here are some suggestions of places to look to help get you started:

• Glass jars and bottles can be reused in multiple ways, as storage, for your home-made preserves, for decoration and more. Find some ideas here.
• Got old sheets or other bedding that’s not good enough to donate? Repurpose it! One great idea as we’re coming into winter is to use them as frost cloths! Here are some other ideas.
• Here are some very creative ideas to repurpose paper – some of these would be great school holiday activities!
• Get creative with plastic bottles. But, if that’s not your thing, in New Zealand the plastic waste you send to recycling might be contributing to making an Eco Pallet – that’s really clever!

Recent events in Fox Glacier

Fox Arts – art exhibition

On Saturday the 20th of April locals of Fox Glacier township Ellie Dodridge and Yan Qin Yang hosted ‘Fox Arts’ a local arts exhibition in their Community Centre displaying the creative talents of over 20 makers and creators living in Glacier Country. A mixture of items were for sale and items for exhibit. Exhibits included photography, paintings, creative writing, illustrations, and sculpture.

During the evening, we enjoyed the wonderful sounds of 4 super talented musicians Cold Animal, Kirby-Rose Wadsworth, Randy and Stephen Dennehy and our wonderful martial arts extraordinaire Carolina Rossi who did some self-defence training with the community.

Thank you so much to all who attended the exhibition to show their support, those who helped to advertise the event, the Community Centre for hosting, our sponsors Fox Glacier Guiding and last but not least our wonderful creative locals who made the event what it was! Hopefully, Fox Arts will become an annual event year on year.

Thankyou Fox!

Second-hand Sale

On Friday the 26th of April Fox Glacier had a second-hand sale in the old hangar on Cook Flat Road. Multiple local sellers set up shop for the day, with clothes, outdoor gear, logs, homeware, and everything in between.

It was great to get together, to reduce, reuse and recycle our old junk and grab some shiny new junk! There was a clothes swap on the go, where locals donated their old clothes and picked up some new pieces of clothing to mix up their wardrobe.

A big thank you to Kirsty and John Sullivan for letting us use their space for the day, it was the perfect spot for a day of haggling in the sunshine. Thank you to all the sellers, buyers and window shoppers who took part and to the community centre and local businesses for advertising the event.

Text and images – provided by Fox Glacier CDO

Custom House and Cass Square Playground

Custom House

After a few delays caused by the weather, the team is back on-site prepping for the painting to be done. The new flagpole, chip seal around the entrance and new spotlights lighting up the building at night has been completed. The project will be completed by the end of May.

Cass Square Playground

The Cass Square playground is progressing well. All play equipment has been installed, the gardens prepped for planting and shelter and benches installed. The next steps to complete will be the fencing, landscaping, and rubber matting. The project is still on track to be completed at the end of May.

Modernising the Census for 2028

StatsNZ are inviting Kiwis to have your say on what the census could look like in Aotearoa New Zealand from 2028 and beyond.

Our census must evolve to continue to deliver ‘for Aotearoa, about Aotearoa’ for generations to come. That’s why it’s important we hear from New Zealanders and anyone who calls Aotearoa New Zealand home about what matters to them, their family or whānau, and their communities.

This is your opportunity to tell us what works well and what hasn’t worked well – and how the census could serve you better in the future.

Visit the Stats website to share your views.

Text – Stats NZ

Digital Cash in New Zealand

At the Reserve Bank – Te Pūtea Matua, we’re looking at digital cash. It would be an electronic version of cash, issued by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, but it would not replace cash.

We are in stage 2 of a multi-year, multi-stage process of considering digital cash. We’ve developed some principles and design options for New Zealand’s digital cash, and we want you to tell us if we have got it right and what it would mean for you.

There are many details to work out before we can decide if digital cash is right for New Zealand, and we plan to consult again in the future on whether we should go ahead and issue digital cash.

Find out more and have your say on the Reserve Bank website.

Text – The Reserve Bank