Selwyn District councillors are looking at a “4.5-ish” per cent rate rise - well below past projections.

However, some people will end up paying higher fees including dog owners and developers, while water charges are also set to rise.

Ratepayers in one of New Zealand's fastest growing regions were hit with 14.9% and 14.2% rate increases over the last two years.

The council forecast a rise of 13.30% for 2026/27.

Last year's local election saw a major shake-up at the council table, with the new mayor elected on the promise of lower rates.

The council consulted on a 5.4%, with a 4.9% option included, and received a record 994 submissions.

Selwyn Mayor Lydia Gliddon said after a day and a half of deliberations, the councillors directed staff to complete the modelling on a 4.9% or less rise, “which was always sort of the goal”.

The council is looking at a series of budget cuts and an increased reliance on user-pays to trim back the rates rise.

Gliddon said the new council had weighed up all the decisions, proven by deliberations spilling into a second day

“We wanted to give due process in making these decisions rather than rushing them through because everybody needs to be comfortable with where we were at.”

Commercial and corporate services executive director Allison Sneddon said they were looking at the "4.5ish mark”.

“I’m saying ‘ish’ because we need to fully model it,” Sneddon said.

That figure does not include water and wastewater costs, which now fall under the CCO Selwyn Water Limited.

Ratepayers are facing a potential 18% increase in the water organisation's first year of operation, down from an earlier forecast of 24%.

The average household water bill is expected to rise by about $280, from $1552 to $1831.

Selwyn council's annual plan is expected to be finalised and adopted on June 10.

To make the savings, Gliddon said they plan to cut $690,000 off the economic development funding, leaving a $250,000 budget.

Event and community grant funding was reduced by $350,000, but included keeping $20,000 in strategic partnership funding, she said.

“We're not taking everything away from everybody. What we are doing is asking to be a little bit more creative on how we deliver our levels of service and to do that in partnership with our organisations.

“It's actually still giving a good outcome while decreasing rates.”

The council is proposing to establish a new Lincoln Town Centre fund of $100,000.

The report from interim chief executive Steve Gibling said it would give the council with flexibility to address the impacts of the Lincoln Town Centre works, after no landowners had applied to the Rates Remission scheme it adopted in March.

Cost cutting has also hit the mayoral and councillors discretionary fund, slashing it from from $30,000 to $500.

Fees and charges are going up in a push towards a more user pays model, with building consents increasing 25% increase.

Gliddon said councillors don’t believe “the general ratepayer should be offsetting building consents”.

Dog registrations are going up $8, with the council conscious of not putting some fees too high and people not registering their dog.

“We've also made a commitment to look at tiered registration in our long-term plan that could incorporate working dogs, good behaviour, elderly dogs and also dangerous and menacing dogs.

The capital projects programme is being adjusted to be “more realistic and actually deliver on what we say we're going to deliver”.

That includes the plans for the new 90-hectare District Park in Rolleston to be reviewed.

 By Jonathan Leask