Resource Management Charges

Introduction

Section 36 of the Resource Management Act (the Act) enables local authorities to
establish charges for various administrative and monitoring activities.

 On this page:

• Charges relating to resource consent applications
  - Table 1
• Charges to holders of resource consents for compliance and impact monitoring
  - Table 2
  - Consent Holders
• Charges related to contaminated site management
• Charge for gravel extraction land use consents
  - Table 3
• Building Act Charges
• Charges for the preparation of, or change to the regional policy statement or a regional plan
  - Table 4
• Charges for the provision of information
• Navigation and safety by-laws charges

The following charges outlined are for the period 1 July 2008 to 30 June 2009.

They are primarily for:

• Determining resource consent applications;
• Compliance and environmental impact monitoring;
• Preparation or change of policy statements or plans.

Council will set the following charges through the special consultative procedure set out in Section 83 of the Local Government Act 2002.

All amounts are exclusive of GST.

 

Charges relating to resource consent applications

(other than non-notified gravel extraction applications).

Charges for receiving, processing and deciding on applications for:

• resource consents;
• certificates of compliance;
• changes to, cancellation of, or review of resource consent conditions;
• transfers of resource consents.

shall comprise a charge payable in advance and an additional charge payable subsequent to processing being undertaken as set out in Table 1.

Refunds

Except for applications for bore permits, minor administrative changes or cancellations and certificates of compliance, a portion of the charge as set out in Table 1 will be remitted if the actual cost of receiving, processing and deciding on the application is less than that already paid.

Renewal fee refunds

The annualised charge of $20 payable by consent holders of water permits towards a non-notified application to renew a water permit to take surface water or ground water is no longer collected. Council will remit any renewal fees that have been paid in advance in the following circumstances:

• The resource consent is surrendered before expiry; or
• The resource consent is not renewed when it expires; or
• The consent holder requests a refund.

Hearings

Council is conscious of the cost that can be incurred by applicants when a resource consent goes to a hearing. Therefore, the Hearings Committee of Council will carefully assess the number of members who will participate in each hearing. The numbers involved will range from at least three to a maximum of five. Where a hearing is required, the following charges shall be made:

• actual meeting fee allowances for each of the Committee members participating in the hearing which at present are $68.00 per hour per Committee member other than the Chairman who is paid $85.00 per hour (a six hour hearing with the full Committee of five members would, therefore, cost $2,142);
• actual mileage for Committee members travelling to and from the hearing at the rate approved by the Remuneration Authority which is currently 70¢ per kilometre;
• actual accommodation costs where it is cheaper for a Committee member to stay overnight rather than return home;
• actual meeting fee allowances for each of the Committee members attending and participating in a formal site inspection, or any meeting subsequent to the hearing for formal deliberations.
• mileage and accommodation costs associated with any formal site inspection or deliberation meetings.
• actual costs (including disbursements) of any Commissioner appointed the Minister of Conservation’s representative;
• the actual cost of staff attendance at the hearing (typically the Reporting Officer, decision writer, relevant technical officers and the Regulation Manager);
• when an independent Hearing Commissioner is appointed at the initiative of Council, the hearing costs associated with the Independent Hearing Commissioner will be calculated on an actual and reasonable basis. Where the Commissioner writes up the decision, an additional charge will apply based on the actual costs, including disbursements, of the Commissioner.

The following Hearing costs will be recovered from the Applicant on a case-by-case basis: photocopying; hall hire; catering; and secretarial services.

 

Table 1

Table 1 (other than Non-notified Gravel Extraction Applications)	Charge payable in advance (excl GST)	Additional Charge payable subsequent to processing
Land use consent for bore permit Other consents, including restricted coastal activities	$250 $800	N/A Based on actual costs1
Minor administrative changes or cancellations of consent conditions	$100	N/A
Other changes or cancellations of consent conditions	$320	Based on actual costs1
Review of conditions as specified in resource consents	$320	Based on actual costs1
Transfer a consent to another site	$320	Based on actual costs1
Extensions to lapsed dates (resource available)	$100	N/A
Extensions to lapsed dates (resource limitations)	$320	Based on actual costs1
Transfer of resource consent (1 only) to a new owner/occupier (payable by new consent holder)	$65	N/A
Transfer of resource consent (2 or more) relating to the same property to a new owner/occupier (payable by new consent holder)	$95	N/A
Certificate of compliance Bore sealing Other	no charge $190	N/A Based on actual costs1

Actual costs¹

The actual costs include time spent by staff in receiving, processing and deciding on the applications, hearing costs and any external disbursements (which shall include any external expert advice from consultants at cost). Staff costs shall be calculated by: multiplying the actual hours involved in receiving, processing and granting a consent by the hourly rates for the staff involved and adding any actual disbursements (as per Table 4); adding any Hearing costs; and then subtracting the charge that was paid in advance, and any renewal fees that have been paid in advance. The total calculated amount shall then, if necessary, be adjusted to reflect Council's actual and reasonable costs having regard to the factors referred to in section 36(4) of the Act. (This does not apply to applications which are not subject to additional charges or refunds).

Charges to Holders of Resource Consents for Compliance and Impact Monitoring

Charges for the monitoring, administration and supervision of resource consents have been determined based on an estimate of time for carrying out the inspection/s, assessment, reporting and administration associated with that monitoring.

Basic Charge

Consent holders whose consents require no more than a single annual inspection, and/or the checking of water use or other type of information returns, and/or a single sampling undertaken by Council staff at the same time as the inspection will be charged as per Table 2.  Consent holders should check the conditions of the consent to determine whether sampling, water use or other type of information return is required.

These charges are invoiced after inspection for one-off inspections, or at the end of the financial year for the consents that eirther have more than one inspection or ongoing monitoring throughout the year.

Table 2

MONITORING TASK	ESTIMATED ANNUAL CHARGE
Inspection and associated reporting and administration	$305
Additional inspection, reporting and administration charges where a resource consent authorises groundwater takes from more than two wells	$60/each additional well over 2
Sampling time (sampling analysis will be at cost - see Table 4)	$87
Water Use Returns – Datalogger Telemetered	$51
Water Use Returns Datalogger Manual	$77
Water use returns – Manual - Quarterly	$107.50
Water use returns – Manual – Monthly	$174
Other information returns	$87

An additional charge will only be made to consent holders whose consents fall under the description for the basic charge where extra compliance monitoring is required as a result of non-compliance with consent conditions.

Actual and Reasonable Charge

Consent holders whose consents are subject to more than a single inspection per year and/or are subject to specific conditions, will be subject to the basic charge for the first inspection plus an additional charge based on the actual and reasonable costs to undertake the total annual monitoring activity.  These consent holders were listed in previous Annual Plans as Table 2 consent holders.

For new consents, the consent holder will be advised of the likely annual monitoring costs when the consent is issued; thereafter the previous years monitoring costs will act as an indication of monitoring costs.

Additional charges for compliance monitoring

Where an additional charge is to be made, this shall be calculated by multiplying the actual hours involved in undertaking monitoring of the consent by the hourly rate for the staff involved and adding any actual disbursements (as per Table 4).  The total calculated shall then, if necessary, be adjusted to reflect Council's actual and reasonable costs having regard to the factors referred to in section 36(4) of the Act.

Incentives for Full Compliance

When a consent holder consistently achieves full compliance (a Grade 1 in two consecutive years), the frequency of monitoring will be reduced.  An annual inspection may reduce to once every two years or more, if the scale of the activity and continued compliance warrants it.  Quarterly inspections may reduce to six monthly inspections.  The reduction in frequency will be at the discretion of the Manager Regulation. Random inspections may be undertaken at no cost to the consent holder to ensure continued compliance during the intervening period.

Charges to holders of resource consents to take groundwater in Bay View/Whirinaki area

An impact monitoring programme is required to determine whether saltwater intrusion into the aquifer and groundwater contamination are likely effects of the taking of groundwater authorised by resource consents in the Bay View/Whirinaki area.  The programme was initially programmed for 5 years, which has now finished, and is subject to a scientific review of data collected. Upon review of this data it is recommended that this programme continue for a further 5 years.  A portion of the impact monitoring programme will be met by Council's State of the Environment Monitoring Budget, the remainder will be charged equally on an annual basis to the consent holders listed below:

Consent          Client Name                     Charge
WP990492T     Bird R                                All $80 per consent
WP000036T     Brownlie Bros
WP010553T     Brownlie Bros
WP010016T     Brownlie C J
WP010020T     Burt J & K Family Trust
WP000012T     Dallas NK & LJ
WP000004T     Drayton W J & A F
WP000006T     Dyer W R  
WP990543T     Goldfinch P S & J N
WP990498T     Harrap's Nurseries Ltd
WP010040T     Hinks R H
WP990535T     Jardine J L & H M
WP990481T     Jemel Trust
WP990558T     Joe, S
WP010017T     Lilburn I R & S M
WP000013T     Mackay H R & D C A
WP980014T     McCleland, JA & F
WP951135T     MC Young Family Trust
WP000034T     Osborne R A
WP990528T     Pan Pac Forest Products Limited
WP990482T     Payne, JE & JC
WP990493T     Pettigrew R H Sir
WP990523T     Powell Family Trust
WP990502T     Poy Young Farm Limited
WP990503T     Poy Young Farm Limited
WP990504T     Poy Young Farm Limited
WP990534T     Price H & G R
WP020016T     Roberts E E
WP990480T     Smith K A & Howe P G
WP000031T     The Orchard Hawke’s Bay Ltd
WP990553T     The Orchard Hawke's Bay Ltd
WP990491T     Villa Maria Estate Limited
WP000038T     Young R & F

Charges to holders of resource consents for low flow monitoring

For holders of consents to take water where the abstraction is subject to low flow limits, (directly or via gallery intake or wells) the cost of monitoring the low flows will be recovered for each water take subject to low flow restrictions:

•  A charge of $125 per consent (excl GST)

 

Charges relating to contaminated site management

Where a party requests information about the 'contaminated site' status of a property	A charge of $200 An additional charge based on actual and reasonable costs may apply if a site inspection is required
Where a party requests Council to review and comment on contaminated site investigation and remediation reports	Actual and reasonable charges will apply
Where a party requests more extensive involvement of Council staff	A charge based on the actual and reasonable costs of staff time incurred

These charges are set in accordance with section 150 of the Local Government Act 2002.

Charges for gravel extraction land use consents

Charges for non-notified applications

A charge payable in advance for receiving, processing and deciding on non-notified land use consent applications to extract gravel:

0-50 cubic metres	$20;
50 cubic metres and over	$80.

(For charges for notified gravel extraction land use consents, see Table 1 and associated text).

Compliance monitoring, administration charges, and financial contributions

Compliance monitoring, administration charges and financial contributions are based on the volume of gravel extracted, the source of the gravel and the quality of the gravel. The categories include:

• inferior grade material (as determined by Council staff);
• material extracted from above the confluence of the Tukipo and Mangaonuku River tributaries of the Tukituki and Waipawa Rivers (Upper Tukituki catchment);
• all other material.

The financial contribution is established in the Regional River Bed Gravel Extraction Plan under Section 108 of the Resource Management Act.

Table 3

Gravel Extraction Charges based on $ per cubic metre extracted per annum

	State of Environment Monitoring Charge (S35 of RMA)	Compliance/ Allocation Charge (S36 of RMA)	Financial Contribution (S108 of RMA)	Total
Upper Tukituki Catchment	No charge	$0.20	No charge	$0.20
Inferior grade	$0.12	No charge	$0.08	$0.20
All Other	$0.12	$0.45	$0.08	$0.65

Resource consent charges for gravel extraction are due and payable monthly on the same day as extraction declarations.

Building Act Charges

Introduction

The processing of building consents for dams, issuing of project information memoranda (PIMs) for dams and administering dam safety regulations are new statutory functions for Council under the Building Act (2004) and its amendments.  At present dam safety regulations are not operative, hence no charging regime has been set for this function.  The following charges are for the period 1 July 2008 to 30 June 2009.  Amounts stated for PIMs and Building Consents below are exclusive of GST.

PIM costs

The costs associated with issuing a PIM will be the actual and reasonable costs of processing, with the same hourly rates as specified in Table 4 under Resource Management Charges applying.

Building Consent Costs

This function is being transferred to another regional council.  The transfer agreement will specify that Building Consent costs will be recovered on an actual and reasonable basis, with hourly rates from the transferred Regional Council applying.  Any Hawke’s Bay Regional Council processing costs will be as specified in Table 4 under Resource Management Charges.

Charges for the preparation of, or change to the regional policy statement or a regional plan

Applicants for the preparation of, or change to, the Regional Policy Statement or any regional plan will be subject to the following fixed charge payable in advance: $1,000 (excl GST).

Should the actual costs incurred by Council in preparing, varying or changing the Regional Policy Statement or any regional plan exceed the charge payable in advance, then these costs may be recovered by way of an additional charge. The additional charge shall be based on actual costs as calculated by multiplying the actual hours involved in preparing or changing the Regional Policy Statement or any regional plan by the hourly rates for the staff involved (as per Table 4) and subtracting the charge referred to above. The total calculated amount shall then, if necessary, be adjusted to reflect Council's actual and reasonable costs having regard to the factors referred to in section 36(4) of the Act. An additional charge is levied under subsection 36(3) of the Act. Such charges are subject to objection and appeal under section 36(6) of the Act.

Table 4 

Charge rates (excl GST) for the purpose of calculating actual costs	Per hour
Executive	$113.46
Asset Management	$82.05
Environmental Science	$74.29
Policy	$70.57
Environmental Regulation  Processing resource consent applications Compliance and impact monitoring of consents All other tasks	$95 $87 $58.58
Environmental Information	$55.69
Land management	$63.03
Disbursement costs shall be charged at the rates set out below: Accommodation Public notification Photocopying  External laboratory testing Consultant fees	$120 per night per person Actual advertising costs 20c per A4 page 30c per A3 page 70c per A2 page actual cost actual cost

Charges for the provision of information

Council shall charge for the provision of information in respect of the Regional Policy Statement, regional plans and resource consents as follows:

• The first hour of time spent actioning a request for information on each or any occasion relating to the same general matter or issue arising from the Regional Policy Statement or regional plans only shall be provided free of charge.
• The first half-hour of time spent actioning a request on each or any occasion for information relating to the same general matter or issue arising from resource consents shall be provided free of charge.
• Staff time spent in actioning the request over and above the time provided free of charge shall be charged at the rates set out in Table 4.
• The first 20 pages of photocopying on standard A4 or A3 paper shall be provided free of charge.
•  Where the total number of pages of photocopying is in excess of 20 then the rates set out in Table 4 will apply.

For information only 
Charges by the Crown

Council is responsible for collecting the following Crown fees, rents and royalties in addition to Council charges:

• In the Coastal Marine Area: 
  - Restricted coastal activity application fees as specified;
  - Extraction of sand and gravel - $1.70 per cubic metre royalty;
  - Rent for the occupation of land of the Crown.
• Geothermal royalties.

Due dates for payment Charges payable in advance for consent applications are due on the filing of an application. Charges payable for photocopying of less than $20.00 are due on collection of the copies. All other charges will be due and payable on the 20th of the month following date of the invoice.

Navigation and safety by-laws charges

The Local Government Act enables the Council to charge for various functions it undertakes in accordance with the Navigation and Safety By-laws.

Licence Type	Annual Charge payable in advance
Vessels not under Safe Ship Management
Passenger Vessel Licence
- Passenger Vessel Owner's Licence	$70
- Passenger Vessel Licence (per vessel)	$40
Hireboat Licence
- Hireboat Owner's Licence	$70
Hireboat Licence (per craft)
- Kayak	$6
- Windsurfer	$7
- Rowing boat	$10
- Sail boat	$20
- Jetski	$20
- Powerboat (6 metres)	$40
Pilot-exemption Recommendations/Revalidation	Charge Payable in Advance
- Overall Vessel Length less than 65 metres	$200
- Overall Vessel Length between 65 metres and 125 metres	$300
Applications for Suspension or Exemptions under Bylaw 5.1
Public Notification	Actual Advertising Costs

 Cost of Debt Recovery

All costs incurred by Council of and incidental to the collection of any debt relating to the activities covered in this section shall be borne by the party whose actions generated the initial charge, as a debt due to Council.