Unfunding depreciation

Don’t panic. All depreciation means is saving a little money each year to pay a big bill 20 or 30 years on. 

Rather than hitting people with a huge cost (maybe millions of $$$) in one year, we collect smaller amounts over a longer period so the money is there when we need to replace important things such as water infrastructure, roads and buildings.

But, there’s a snag. Every three years, we have a valuation and the value of things tends to go up. That’s fine if it’s your house, but not so great if it’s roads or water supplies. If a water supply, for example, has a higher value, then replacing it will cost more and that means we need to get more money each year from rates for depreciation. 

We’re planning to unfund a portion of the 2023-24 3Waters depreciation and property depreciation charges, rather than increase them. 

Rates impact:
1.8% rates saving for 2023-24.

Feedback on the 2023-24 Annual Plan has now closed. We asked:

Do you support Council unfunding a portion of the depreciation for 3 Waters and Property assets?