KEY POINTS:
The Auckland City Council has just made it simpler to get a building consent, but many people will pay more for the privilege.
The council is planning to recoup much of the $19.6 million bill for the regulatory review programme from developers and home owners in the form of higher charges.
The charges are likely to hit people doing small projects around the house, for whom higher charges will outweigh the benefits of the streamlined consent process.
On the other hand, developers undertaking large commercial projects should save money from fewer hours processing complex consents.
The new system includes a tracking system that allows staff to let people know where their consent is and simplifying matters for more complex consent applications.
City development general manager John Duthie was at a loss to explain how the council spent $19.6 million on the regulatory programme.The programme included paying $5 million to a team of consultants from Deloittes for 18 months.
"Many people will find their fees will go down because we can deal with an issue quicker," he said.
Mr Duthie said there would be a one-off increase in staff charge-out rates of 5 per cent to 8 per cent. This would take the hourly rate for a senior planner from $160 up to $172.80 and secretarial/administration staff rates from $81 to up to $87.50.
The rates reflected market rates and included overheads such as motor vehicles, buildings, power and rent, he said.
Property Council national director Connal Townsend "cautiously endorsed" the new programme after being in a working group on it. He understood there could be an increase in consenting costs, but said the key issue for council members was timeliness and certainty.
Local Government Minister Rodney Hide said he was in favour of streamlined processes and cutting through red tape, but was staggered at the $19.6 million cost of the regulatory review programme at Auckland City.
"It's tough on the poor ratepayer. First of all they have had to endure years of frustration at the red tape and now they are having to pay to get it cleaned up."
Mr Hide said councils were not entirely to blame for high consent costs. Stuck with the liability if things went wrong, they had become risk averse, put onerous systems in place and passed on the costs, he said.
Council finance committee chairman Doug Armstrong, who stood on the Citizens & Ratepayers promise of "a drive to reduced compliance costs", said of the new regulatory programme: "It might result in higher charges. I would need to check that. It might result in vastly better service."
He said the new system was being piloted and would not be fully in place until February or March next year. Only after an evaluation would the council know if it was good value for money, he said.
Meanwhile, the council has budgeted to spend a further $60 million over the next decade improving other parts of the organisation. This includes $800,000 to upgrade the 10-year-old telephone system, and improvements to human resource systems, procurement procedures and its website.
