2025/2026 Annual Plan

Help us make our big decisions for the year ahead

This year Council has been focused on working to keep rates low as well as working on the future for three waters service delivery. This is your opportunity to share your views on a range of topics to help our decision making.

The Local Water Done Well Reform requires us to change the way we deliver and charge for water. Part of preparing for this change means that we need to “ringfence” all costs to provide three waters and charge those through the appropriate rates. This means that in 2025/2026, those rates will rise faster than those of other non-water services. The average proposed three waters rates increase for 2025/2026 will be 20.46%, which is about $220 a year or $4.23 a week and the non-waters rates increase will be 3.67%, which is about $73 a year or $1.40 a week.

In our Consultation Document you will also find three options for our water service delivery method.

Every year we review our Fees and Charges Schedule. We aim to ensure that we have the right balance for all our services between user pays and rates funding. There are a number of proposed changes this year, including bus fares. The government is asking all Councils to charge more in order to reduce the amount of funding for buses which comes from Central Government and proposed rates. What do you think of our proposed fees for next year? You can also share your views now on the future of public transport through the proposed Southland Regional Public Transport Plan.

We are also proposing changes to our stormwater rating approach based on the latest LiDAR modelling. Please see Maps and the Draft Rating Policy to see if your property is affected by the proposal.

We have looked at a range of other ways to save money, which are included in the consultation document. One cost-saving measure we especially want your feedback on is our proposal to close Wachner Place Toilets. We believe there are some great alternative toilet facilities in our CBD - are the toilets in Wachner place still needed?

We put some money aside for urban play in the Long-term plan, and we now have options for your feedback. Should we invest in the city centre, spread the investment more widely around the city, or is it no longer the right time for this project? You can also let us know now what you think of our Draft Play Strategy

Do you want to know how we came to our Annual Plan decisions? See the links to our livestreams where we discussed our options around the Council Table.

Have a question about one of our topics? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions, if there’s something we have not answered for you, send it through to policy@icc.govt.nz.

Come and chat with your Councillors and Mana Whenua Representatives. We’ll be out and about in Invercargill and Bluff over the next month and look forward to seeing you at the Council hearings, which are planned for after the Easter break.

Submissions will close at 5 pm on 13 April. Complete the submission form below, let us know your thoughts in person at an event, via post or drop a submission form into one of our boxes to let us know your preferred options.

Invercargill Councillors