Chain gets pulled on pan tax

Te Aroha and District Community Hospital chief executive Nikki Close. Photo / Christine Cornege

Matamata-Piako has flushed away its controversial pan tax proposal and will instead guess how much waste water businesses use.

The district council yesterday ditched its plan to charge non-residential properties for waste water based on how many toilets they had. It also backtracked on its fall-back proposal which would require all businesses to install water meters.

Matamata-Piako mayor Hugh Vercoe said it was too bureaucratic and staff would instead make an "objective call" as to whether non-residential properties used more than one household equivalent of waste water. Those who didn't would be charged the residential fee which is increasing from $593 to $687 from July.

But businesses such as restaurants and hospitals, deemed to be high water users, still face significant increases and will either be charged on the number of toilets they have or can install a water meter to determine how many more household equivalents they use.

Businesses will now pick up an extra $400,000 of the waste water bill under the current proposal compared with $1 million under the pan tax proposal.

Not for profit groups - which are high water users - can apply for relief from a $10,000 contestable grant.

Te Aroha Community Hospital chief executive Nikki Close was concerned they would be competing against other groups for the funds but Mr Vercoe disagreed.

"We don't believe there's many [eligible not for profits] because all your small ones - your churches and your scout dens and senior citizens are all based on one (household equivalent)," Mr Vercoe said.

Another unpopular plan to introduce a "footpath tax", where businesses with tables and chairs on the footpath would be charged $150 a year for the privilege, was also ditched.

In its final deliberations over the long-term plan yesterday, the council also slashed more than $2 million off its budget by shelving plans to build a new $3 million library in Matamata and voting against upgrading toilets in Matamata, Morrinsville and Te Aroha Cemeteries and on Waharoa's main road at a cost of $120,000 per toilet.