Consent charges
- The Council has not increased many of its fees and charges since 2004.
- In 2004 the Building Act was introduced which required councils to become accredited.
- Consents were required to be put through much more rigorous checks, to ensure their quality and robustness.
- This process takes considerably longer than previously, but provides a better quality outcome.
- To ensure realistic charging, the Council has now introduced hourly rate charging.
- Before the charging regime was one of a fixed charge in the form of deposit that was worked up to, then anything over was charged at an hourly rate.
- Now the deposit is based on an hourly rate and this much more accurately reflects what the final cost is likely to be.
- The charges also reflect the difference between controlled activities in the City Plan and discretionary activities; there is greater cost involved in discretionary non-complying activities, with the need for greater time, publicity, hearings, etc.
- Smaller consents remain at a small fixed charge.
- Subdivision fees have been simplified so there is a charge for each lot.
- The Council's consent fees are still among the lowest in New Zealand.
Childcare facilities charges
- Fees were last increased in 2006.
- Two stage increase for all three centres from $4 to $4.50 on 1 July and from $4.50 to $5 on 1 January 2009.
- To maintain a rates neutral fiscal position for the consolidated Early Learning Centres.
- To cover significant movements in costs in areas such as utilities, consumables and human resource costs.
Trade waste charges
- Some of these have increased and some have decreased.
- A number of changes follow the calculation requirements in new legislation, the Trade Waste Bylaw 2006.
- Volume charges for peak and off-peak discharges have increased due to the effect of operational costs increasing as captured in a five-year rolling average.
- Charges for metals have altered in sympathy with the amount measured in the bio-solid and reflects the related cost in processing and discharging to landfill instead of returning it to land for re-use.
- Tankered waste discharge fees have a 5.4 per cent increase due to operational cost for laboratory testing charges and additional time requirement for WasteTrack auditing.
- Suspended solids were subject to a measurement (filter paper) change with the introduction of the new trade waste bylaw so the figure in the previous fees and charges schedule was not correct i.e. it was changed from 0.3660 to 0.2121 cents per kilogram. The increase is therefore 7.4 per cent and represents an increase in the five-year operational cost rolling average.
- A new charging system for smaller dischargers is still being established and the associated licensing rates for this period will not change.
- The ratio for peak/off-peak charge rate has changed resulting in a less discounted charge as per the adopted charging policy.
Health licensing fees
- The Domestic Food Review means significant changes to the way the Council registers food premises.
- The Council will need to increase the amount of time it spends on providing this service and consequently the number of staff dedicated to the task.
- As a result, there has been an increase in the annual fee for registering a food premises.
- The Council did not increase its food premises registration fees between 1999 - 2007, but now needs to make adjustments to them. The Council's fees are only a third to a half of those charged by other, similar sized councils.
Lyttelton Recreation Centre bookings fees
- New charges have been introduced.
- These have not been changed/introduced since amalgamation.
