The quotation published in Marketplace last week saying that the draft proposal for rates in Thames-Coromandel in 2008/2009 would see an average rise of 12.17% was highly misleading.
First, it should be emphasised that it is a draft, so it still has to go through public submissions before the council finalises the figures in mid year. Second, Thames-Coromandel's rating system, which makes heavy use of targeted rates that apply only to areas with particular services and projects, means that some people would experience only a slight increase in rates, and Jeremy in Thames-Coromandel's rates team says that some might even go down slightly, if they are in rural areas that have no council services.
It all depends on the services you receive. If you are in an urban area such as Thames or Whangamata, and therefore have wastewater and water reticulation connected, your rates would go up an average of 17-19% because you get all the service charges. But if the only service you receive is rubbish-collection, which is of course what would apply on the Gulf Islands, the draft rise is from an annual charge of $102.76 to $109.16. Less than $7.
Hardly a figure to fill anyone with dread. Except Chicken Licken.
Waiheke Island, New Zealand
Waiheke from the west (the end nearest Auckland)
About Me
- Nobilangelo
- My Christian name is pronounced 'noble-arn-jillo' (i.e., both o's are long, so the first two syllables rhyme with 'noble' not 'hobble'--yes, I know that's obvious, because there's only one 'b' between the 'o' and the 'i', but some people seem to see two b's, hence the English lesson). My surname is pronounced kerra-marliss. I was born, bred and educated in New Zealand, except for an international systems-engineer's course in San Antonio, Texas. I am born-again Christian, a thinker with a very practical turn of mind, a scientist with a particular interest in planet-friendly energy and neuroscience, an engineer (mechanical, industrial and IT systems), an inventor, a Member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a writer and poet, a naturist, a designer in different fields, an arranger and composer of symphonic music, a multi-award-winning IT journalist, a photographer, and a practitioner at various times in other hands-on fields including building, metalwork, woodwork, stained-glass and landscaping.