UPDATE / 5.10pm: A "dog's breakfast" - that's how an Auckland councillor and former mayor has described today's meeting at which the council set its uniform charge in the face of stiff opposition from ratepayers and local boards.
UPDATE / 5.10pm: A "dog's breakfast" is how an Auckland councillor has described today's strategy and finance committee meeting and she says the committee¹s chair should be sacked.
Former Auckland mayor Christine Fletcher told NBR ONLINE the meeting has only looked at issues in isolation and has not considered the city budget as a whole.
"It is crazy - sort of like walking around the supermarket having a little bit of this and that," Ms Fletcher says.
Penny Webster chairs the committee.
Today¹s meeting is examining the budget for Auckland's long-term plan.
Ms Fletcher and councillor Cameron Brewer planned to present an alternative budget at the meeting.
Half of Aucklanders will have to pay higher rates after the city's amalgamated council today agreed on its uniform charge.
At its strategy and finance committee meeting, Auckland Council agreed to set its uniform annual general charge at $350, in the face of stiff opposition from ratepayers and local boards.
Businesses will continue to pay the same proportion of rates as they did previously and special dispensation has been given to Franklin businesses, which were the worst affected by the changes.
No matter the UAGC's level, ratepayers were bracing for rates hikes anyway as the council decides the super city's new regime after swallowing seven territorial authorities and the regional council.
Heavily-caveated analysis by council staff, shows 52.6% of ratepayers will pay more rates as a result of the $350 UAGC.
If the charge had been $450, 57.8% of ratepayers would have been worse off.
$350 charge supports lower income residents: Brown
UAGC is a minimum charge for basic council services, such as swimming pools and libraries. It is distinct from targeted rates for services such as rubbish and recycling.
Mayor Len Brown said in a statement this afternoon the level of charge was "the fairest of all options".
The $350 charge struck a balance between "minimising the change across the board", he says, and supporting lower income residents.
“The higher the UAGC, the greater the number of Auckland households facing more than a 10 per cent rates increase."
However, 57% of 1551 submitters on the uniform annual general charge disagreed or strongly disagreed with the recommended $350 level, while seven of the 13 local boards supported a charge of $450 or higher.
A quarter of Aucklanders still face a rates increase of more than 10% at that UAGC level.
Worries some ratepayers will have same services but pay less
According to the agenda for today's meeting, opponents of the $350 charge said a higher UAGC would reduce the rates burden on their properties, while others were concerned that the owners of lower-value properties had access to similar services but paid less in rates.
Auckland Council staff said in today's agenda: "There will be a high level of rating change across the rating base regardless of what level of UAGC is adopted by council. However, more ratepayers are better off with a lower UAGC."
They say the $350 charge will earn the council $170.7 million, or 12.5% of total rates for the 2012-13 financial year.
Analysis by council staff - which excludes a 3.6% rates increase, any transition management policy (which limits rates hikes to $300 or 15% of their 2011-12 rates) and finalised targeted rates - shows 127,165 ratepayers, a quarter of Aucklanders, face a rates increase of more than 10% at that UAGC level.
If the UAGC was $450, 129,585 ratepayers would face a rates hike of more than 10% - only 2420 people.
The UAGC decision is one of many being made at today's meeting, at which councillors are considering the 10-year budget.
The Auckland Council is proposing a 3.6% rates rise in the coming year.
