Christchurch City Council
53 Hereford Street
Christchurch, Canterbury 8013
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Is this the slippery slope?
Christchurch City Council is considering charging households that use large amounts of water.
The excess water charge – to be put forward for public feedback under the Council’s Draft Annual Plan – would apply to households that use more than a third more water than the average household and work in the same way as water charges already in place for commercial properties.
Information put forward is that the average daily household water use in Christchurch is equivalent to about seven baths per day, whereas the top 20 per cent of households use at least 11 baths per day, and some significantly more.
Being the top 20 per cent of households use half of the total residential water supplied to the city.
The proposal is that where a property owner uses significantly more water than the average household, they contribute to the cost of supplying that extra water.”
Currently residential property owners pay for an allocated water supply using a targeted rate based on the rateable value of their property. Commercial users also pay a targeted rate, but then pay an additional water charge – at a rate of $1.05 per 1,000 litres – if they exceed their allocation covered by their rates.
The Council’s proposed excess water charge would apply to those households that use more than 333,000 litres per year (915 litres per day) and exceed their rates-based allocation. Usage would be assessed and charged for on a quarterly basis, with a credit applying if a household’s use was below allocation for a quarter.
In Christchurch, the average annual household water use is 197,100 litres – the highest of all the larger cities in New Zealand.
The Council estimates the proposed charges would initially affect about 20,000 households and bring in an additional $2 million in revenue in the first year. Over time, fewer properties could be affected if high-use households reduce their water use.
Summertime household water consumption in Christchurch is approximately double that in winter, mostly due to people watering their lawns and gardens with unattended sprinklers and irrigation systems.
Last summer the city recorded its highest single-day water use in a decade – an average of 1,324 litres per household.
Public feedback on the Council’s Draft Annual Plan opens 12 June.
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The Christchurch City Council is the local government authority for Christchurch New Zealand. It is a territorial authority elected to represent the people of Christchurch.
According to the most recent population estimates taken in 2017, the city’s metro area has a population of 396,700.
Christchurch City Holdings Ltd (CCHL) is a investment group owned by the Christchurch City Council at the time of writing it included the following companies shown below.
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Rates Still Too High
Mrs Baxendale has said that once again, we’ve worked hard to keep rates increases as low as possible, because we know that’s what residents want. We’re also conscious of the pressure that rates increases place on households.
No evidence has been given as to what that hard work consisted of or what if any savings implementations have been put in place to acheive what voters have asked for.
The main proposals in the draft budget are:
- The proposed rates increase for an ‘average’ household is 2.74 per cent. An average house is one with a capital value of around $508,000.
- An overall average rate increase across all ratepayers of 4.65 per cent. Future rate increases are expected to be in line with, or lower, than what’s in the LTP.
- Operational expenditure – spending on everyday services such as rubbish collection – of $517.4 million. That is $20.9 million more than what is in the LTP.
- Capital expenditure – spending on the construction of facilities and infrastructure – of $560.9 million invested into the city.
- Borrowing for the capital programme is $68.8 million less than planned.
