Economic Recovery Plan

Council has an important role to play in an all-of-government effort to assist our communities recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fundamental to this is a recovery plan that focuses on working collaboratively to rebuild the Western Bay of Plenty economy as fast as possible, through immediate relief and medium to long term support. The plan highlights key issues for the District and how we can complement government initiatives at a local level.

The Plan

Economic recovery plan - tap to read — Economic Recovery Plan - Page 1 (PDF 67KB)

Economic recovery plan page 2 - tap to read — Economic Recovery Plan - Page 2 (PDF 110KB)

Community Resilience Fund

Western Bay of Plenty District Council’s Community Resilience Fund was launched in an effort to help local groups – registered charities, non-governmental organisations (NGO), incorporated societies or community groups – needing additional funding for their projects in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The one-off $300,000 fund is one of the support packages within Council’s Economic Recovery Plan to assist the local economy and provide relief in the medium and long term.

The fund is a consolidation of Council’s two annual community funding pools the Community Matching Fund and the Facilities in the Community Fund.

APPLICATIONS ARE NOW CLOSED.

Successful Community Resilience Fund applicants

The final round of funding was allocated on Friday 26 June. In total $299,963.75 has been given to community groups struggling to fund projects and services as a result of COVID-19.

See here for a list of successful applicants (PDF 123KB)

Targeted rates relief for residential ratepayers

Residential ratepayers may be eligible to postpone payment of their rates if they are directly affected by COVID-19.

Council has two targeted rates postponement policies:

Financial hardship – to provide relief to people facing extreme financial hardship
Other homeowners – primarily intended for people over 65 years of age, whatever their financial situation. People under 65 can also apply under this policy, but narrower conditions of postponement apply.

Who can apply?

For rates to be postponed, they must be for residential properties that are occupied by the ratepayers (owners) and used solely for residential purposes.

If approved, the postponement will be added to the applicant’s property title, to ensure Council debt will be repaid before any other stakeholder interest e.g. proceeds being distributed to interested parties.

There is no provision for postponement of rates on commercial or industrial properties or rural properties that are used for purposes other than residential.

Applications under the financial hardship policy

For applications relating to financial hardship, full details of the ratepayer’s personal circumstances must be disclosed to Council to determine eligibility.

Postponement of rates penalties as well as current rates may be considered.

Rates could be postponed for a specified number of years, or for the life of the applicant, but if the property is sold or the applicant moves out, the rates will become payable.

In some cases, Council may require administration fees to be paid, and the first $500 of rates to be paid.

Applications under the homeowner's policy

For applications where at least one of the owner-occupants is over 65 years of age, rates may be postponed indefinitely, or for a shorter period. For ratepayers under 65 years of age, rates may be postponed for up to 15 years.

In both cases, the rates would become payable if the property was sold or applicant moved out of the property. The cost of the postponement (interest and administration fees) is paid by the applicant through annual fees.

More information

For full details of the two policies, including COVID-19 relief eligibility criteria, and terms and conditions please refer to the following