Western Bay of Plenty District Council has approved its draft 2014/2015 Annual Plan today, which proposes an average rates increase of 4.68 per cent, including growth and inflation.

But the council says the rise is less than the forecast 6 per cent and keeping the increase under five per cent is achieved through deferring and cutting roading budgets.

Western Bay of Plenty District Council has today approved its draft Annual Plan.

Public consultation on the plan, which sets out the money council requires to carry out work in the upcoming financial year, will begin March 28, and close April 28 this year.

Western Bay Mayor Ross Paterson says his council is heading into the new financial year with confidence and the certainty of a lower than forecast average rate rise – which was forecast at six per cent in the 2012-2022 Long Term Plan.

'We are managing our debt, we continue to curb capital expenditure and we have not compromised on our level of service delivery.

'However, debt remains a key focus and we will again be using a contribution from the general rate of $700,000 this year to pay for interest on growth-related debt, plus $300,000 from the roading rate.''

The proposed rates rise is 0.49 per cent less than last year's average rate increase, with council expecting to receive income of $54.78 million from rates for the July 1, 2014 to June 30, 2015 financial year – compared to $51.06 million in the 2013/2014 year.

The proposed average rate increase is 1.98 per cent above growth (0.50 per cent) and inflation (2.20 per cent), and takes into account the district rate, community board rates and uniform annual charges.

Council's total costs in the 2014/2015 year are expected to be $96.1 million, of which $61.3 million will be spent on maintaining existing council assets and delivering required services.

Keeping the rate increase under five per cent has been achieved through deferrals of $1m in the roading budget, including reducing the seal extension budget by $200,000 and seal widening by $120,000.

Ross says the 10-year programme and budget council put in place in 2012, when it set the Long Term Plan (2012-2022), is working well.

Council's forecast debt lies at $146.5 million, down from $156.5 million in 2013/2014.

Growth remains static and is of concern to Council, says Ross.

'Despite an increase in building consents and an upturn in housing construction, the development of subdivisions in the Western Bay has actually decreased from last year. This is partly due to the market taking up the surplus of land already subdivided.

'Until this surplus is taken up, council expects development growth to remain sluggish, thus restricting the income we receive from financial contributions and restraining our ability to reduce debt,” says Ross.

The most significant change to this year's Draft Annual Plan is Council's proposal is to move to one charge for the district's five wastewater schemes and one charge for Western Bay's three water schemes.

Ross says the reasoning behind this is that service for water and wastewater to each ratepayer is the same, irrespective of where in the district their property lies.

'This proposed rating model has benefits for ratepayers, as it flattens out costs by spreading them across a wider rating base. In addition it removes the shocks to specific communities by levelling charges, and results in everyone getting exactly the same level of service, at the same cost.

'The new proposal signals council's commitment to using a district-wide rating approach for the services it provides – similar to that already in place for the district's libraries.”

Funding for the Katikati Heritage Museum is the second main issue for consultation in the Draft Annual Plan.

Council is proposing to fund $65,000 to cover the museum's mortgage and interest to enable the museum to continue operating. The funding will be for the 2014/2015 year only.

Options for consultation are to fund on a district-wide basis from the general rate, to fund over the Katikati Community Board area of benefit only, or to split the rate between the district and the Katikati Community Board area.

Some additional costs have also been incurred, with the most significant being changes to the service delivery of Civil Defence and Rural Fire responsibilities in Tauranga and Western Bay.

These have added an additional $215,000 to council's 2014/2015 expenditure – Civil Defence ($185,000) and Rural Fire ($30,000).

The Draft Annual Plan summary will be circulated to all ratepayers on Friday, March 28.

Ross encourages ratepayers to read the summary carefully and note any issues they wish to address in a submission.

Council will be holding public meetings during April to explain the Draft Annual Plan in detail.

Full details of the Draft Plan will be available on council's website from Friday, 28 March.

Submissions close on April 28, and hearings will be held May 12-14. They will be considered before the final Annual Plan is adopted by council at the end of June.