Fees and Charges for 2026-27
Submissions closed
Submissions closed at 4.30pm Friday 29 May. Thank you for all the feedback received.
Timeline and next steps
- Hearings and deliberations: will be held on Tuesday 9 June from 10.45am to 12.30pm in the Council Chambers at He Whare Hono ō Tūwharetoa. After hearing from submitters, Council will consider all the submissions received and make decisions on any amendments to the proposed fees as a result.
- Council decision: Council will consider the final fees and charges for adoption at a council meeting on 27 June. All submitters will be notified of Council's decision.
Introduction
Council charges fees for some of its services where it makes sense for the people who benefit from the service to pay for it. While nobody likes paying fees, it’s also fair that the people who use and benefit from council services should pay their fair share. Otherwise, it must be funded by rates from others who may not use that service at all.
Some examples where fees are applied include applying for a building consent, registering your dog and paying an entry fee at the AC Baths. In most cases the costs of these council services are actually split between fees from users, and rates funding from the wider community.
As council’s costs increase each year with inflation, and rates are annually adjusted, fees must also be adjusted to ensure users continue to pay their fair share for the cost of the services they use.
Council will again be increasing its fees in line with inflation from 1 July 2026, alongside rates adjustments. The laws governing some of these fees require public consultation, even for inflation adjustments.
Council is consulting on adjustments of around 7 percent for Food Licensing fees, and Resource Consenting fees to make up for two years of inflationary increases. These activities are currently funded around 40 to 60 percent by user charges, with the remainder funded by rates.
In addition, we are proposing to introduce a new fee to cover costs for road stopping applications. Road stopping is the legal process of converting a "legal road" (including unused paper roads) into private, fee simple land. It removes public access rights to the road and road status from the land.
Proposed changes
A summary of the proposed changes are outlined in the sections below, while a full list is included in the PDF here:
Food licensing
Proposed change: Increase in food licensing charges by an average of 7 percent.
Rationale: Food Licensing fees have not been increased since the 2024/25 financial year. To ensure these fees are consistent with Council’s other fees, we are proposing a change based on two years of inflationary increases. This means on average a 7 percent increase in fees for food licensing fees.
For example, this would increase the hourly rate for environmental health officers / verifiers from $220 to $235.
Resourse Consents
Proposed change: Increase in resource consents charges by an average of 7 percent.
Rationale: Resource Consent fees also have not been increased since the 2024/25 financial year. To ensure these fees are consistent with Council’s other fees, we are proposing a change based on two years of inflationary increases.
This means on average a 7 percent increase for resource consenting fees. For example, this would increase the hourly rate for senior level officers from $245 to $260.
Road stopping
Proposed change: New Road Stopping Application Fee of $1,300
Rationale: This new fee will cover initial background research, discussions with solicitors, and time to prepare feedback for the applicant. Currently council doesn’t have a set fee for this service but to ensure applicants are aware of the initial assessment costs, council is proposing to set a fee.
This fee excludes survey costs, cost of any consents, public advertising, accredited agent fees, Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) fees, applicant and Road Controlling Authority legal fees, cost of Court and hearing proceedings, staff time beyond an initial five hours.
Questions
If you have any questions about this proposal or how to make a submission, please contact us via email at feesandcharges@taupo.govt.nz.
