Fees hike hits community housing in Mangawhai

Kaipara District Council has approved new fees and charges for services for the 2024-2025 year, most of them up by an average of 3.5 per cent, to account for current inflation. The new charges take effect from July 1.

One important change this year relates to fines for littering. In the past, fines ranged from $120, if the littering entailed less than one litre in volume, to $400 for littering more than 120 litres, with intermediate-level fines of $200 and $300.

From July 1, the fine for any littering will be $400, irrespective of the amount.

In case a definition of the offence is required, council says it’s the act of “depositing litter or having deposited litter, and leaving it in or on a public place, or in or on private land without the consent of its occupier”.

Council says fees and charges are set on a user-pays basis, to ensure that rate increases are kept to a minimum, where possible.

Among the biggest rises this year is a 5.9 per cent increase in the weekly fee for existing tenants at the community housing in Fagan Place, Mangawhai – from $170 a week to $180.

Other fees and charges that are increasing by 4 per cent or more include the weekly fee for improved units at the community housing in Fagan Place (from $245 to $255, or 4.1 per cent), fees for working dog registration (from $48 to $50 per dog, or 4.2 per cent), and fees for non-working dog registration (from $73 to $76 per dog, or 4.1 per cent).

There are no increases this year for parking offences, however. The unchanged fines range from $40 for most parking offences to $150 for unlawfully parking in a mobility parking space.

Also unchanged are fines for vehicle registration and warrant of fitness infringements – $200 for a private vehicle driven while not registered, not licenced or without a current WOF. Driving a commercial vehicles without a current WOF attracts a $600 fine.

Builders will welcome one big change, to the building levy set by the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE). Council noted that, previously, a levy of $1.75 per $1,000 of building work was payable for work valued at $20,444 (including GST) and over. As announced by the government in March, the building levy threshold is increasing to $65,000 (including GST).

The full list of fees and charges: www.kaipara.govt.nz/fees-charges