Dog fee options change

Auckland Council is rethinking part of its proposed dog fee increases, but new figures released on Tuesday - and being discussed today by council - still show an increase of at least 70 per cent for dog fees, even for licensed dog owners.

The council looks to be addressing the issue of there being no rebate for owners who have gone to the trouble of gaining a "responsible dog owner" licence. That was one of the biggest bugbears in the proposed fee structures buried on page 144, chapter 3, of the finance section in the Draft Long Term plan and first revealed by The Aucklander in February.

Auckland Council says it will now consider two new proposals, reinstating a discount for responsible dog owners. The two options are in a report being discussed today by the Strategy and Finance Committee. It will make a recommendation for the rebate to be included in the Long Term Plan.

Around 4500 of almost 10,000 public submissions received on the 10-year plan related to the dog-fee increase and the removal of discounts for holders of dog owner licences.

Mayor Len Brown said this week he'd made it clear he would listen to the concerns. "As well as the level of increase proposed, one of the other main themes of the submissions was that there was no incentive or reward for responsible dog owners. We believe the new proposals will go some way to addressing these concerns although in coming up with the revised fees we also had to be mindful of the impact it would have on the overall rates."

The report says the two new options proposed "will result in a decrease in overall dog registration and impoundment revenue from that forecast in the draft Long Term Plan. The shortfall is estimated at $0.925 million for Option B and $0.945 million for Option C."

But Auckland dog owners writing on the Stand Up Auckland Dog Owners Facebook page say the fee is still too high.

"If they adopt option C (see below) that is still close to a 100 per cent increase ($47 to $90)," writes Jacqui Williams.

Michelle Parker wrote: "They set it high so that when the real price comes in we (hopefully) will say 'oh, that's not as bad'. No no no! It is still too high for what we get and still the good dog owners are penalised."

Councillor Cathy Casey, an opponent to the increases as they stand, has proposed an amendment to the meeting today.

It reads: "Responsible dog owners are very unhappy with the proposals before the Strategy & Finance Committee. We need to go back to the drawing board on this.

"I think we should roll over the current rates plus a CPI increase for the next 12 months as an act of good faith and then consult with responsible dog owners about services that we intend to provide, their cost and a fair cost sharing ratio between dog owners and council. 80 to 20 is arbitrary and unfair."

Council has sought to claw back some of the costs by almost doubling the fee charged to owners whose dogs are impounded, from $35 to $60.

But Jacqui Williams says that charge nowhere near matches what she believes it would cost. "That should be much larger."

REVISED FEE OPTIONS

The original proposed fees were:

Standard dog (un-neutered, un-speyed) $160

Desexed dog $120

Working farm dog $50 Superannuitants (with Community Services Card) $50

The two alternative proposals being considered are:

OPTION B

Standard dog $150 ($80 with Responsible Dog Owner Licence, RDOL)

Desexed dog $120 ($80 with RDOL)

OPTION C

Standard dog $145 ($90 with RDOL)

Desexed dog $115 ($90 with DOL).

Both options also reduce the working farm dog and superannuitant fees from $50 to $45 and increase the impounding fee from $35 to $60.

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