Source
https://www.nelson.govt.nz/ — original source (opens in a new tab; the file is not redistributed)
Nelson City Council 2025/26 rates resolution — water & wastewater tariff (REG_030)
Advances RT_261 — the Nelson anchor for the multi-council water-tariff sweep
CR_032 costed the D22 mains-import backstop off a single council anchor — Watercare/Auckland (volumetric ~NZD 2.30–2.46/m³) — and flagged that “many NZ councils are unmetered/rates-funded”. RT_261 asked for a multi-council sweep (Tasman, Nelson, Kāpiti, Christchurch) to build a national range and count the unmetered councils. This primary is the Nelson leg: a statutory rates resolution read verbatim, giving Nelson’s metered, two-part water tariff and its wastewater targeted rate. It advances RT_261 (1 of 4 councils delivered); it does not resolve it. Firms mains_connection with a second real NZ council price point of a different tariff structure than Watercare’s.
Summary
The Nelson City Council resolution of 5 June 2025 (Item 7.3, R25-220) adopts the Annual Plan 2025/26 and sets the rates for the financial year 1 July 2025 – 30 June 2026 under the Local Government (Rating) Act 2002. For the D22 water-import backstop, the load-bearing content is Nelson’s water and wastewater charging. Nelson is fully metered and charges a two-part water tariff: a fixed Water Annual Charge of NZD 273.42 per metered connection (targeted rate under s16) plus a volumetric rate (targeted rate under s19) that is tiered by annual usage — NZD 2.764/m³ for usage up to 10,000 m³/yr (the residential tier), 2.349/m³ for 10,001–100,000, 1.935/m³ above 100,000, and a summer-irrigation rate of 2.570/m³ for usage over 10,000 m³/yr. Wastewater is a flat targeted rate: NZD 708.57 per separately used or inhabited part (SUIP) of a connected residential/multi-residential/rural/forestry/small-holding rating unit (commercial 177.14/SUIP + trade-waste). All per-unit figures are GST-inclusive. This makes Nelson a second metered-council anchor for mains_connection alongside Watercare — and one with a different tariff structure (fixed + volumetric two-part, vs the single volumetric figure CR_032 held for Watercare): the residential volumetric rate (2.764/m³) sits above Watercare’s 2.46/m³, and Nelson layers a NZD 273.42/yr fixed connection charge on top.
Key claims
- claim: "NELSON WATER TARIFF (2025/26, metered, TWO-PART, GST-INCLUSIVE). (a) Water Annual Charge — a targeted rate for water supply under s16 LG(Rating)Act 2002 'per connection on all rating units where a water meter is installed for the property' = NZD 273.42 (per connection). (b) Water Volumetric Rate — a targeted rate for water provided under s19, tiered by annual usage: usage up to 10,000 m³/yr NZD 2.764/m³; usage 10,001–100,000 m³/yr NZD 2.349/m³; usage over 100,000 m³/yr NZD 1.935/m³; and a 'Summer irrigation usage over 10,000 m³/year' rate of NZD 2.570/m³. A typical household (well under 10,000 m³/yr) therefore pays the NZD 2.764/m³ tier-1 rate PLUS the NZD 273.42/yr fixed connection charge — a two-part tariff, unlike the single-volumetric Watercare anchor in CR_032. Nelson is FULLY METERED (a per-connection charge only applies 'where a water meter is installed'), a second metered-council datapoint against CR_032's 'many NZ councils are unmetered'."
source_location: "Item 7.3 'Adoption of the Annual Plan 2025/26 and setting of the rates', resolution 11, (7) Water Annual Charge + (8) Water Volumetric Rate (p.5–6 of 8); header note 'The rates and charges below are GST inclusive' (p.4)"
- claim: "NELSON WASTEWATER TARIFF (2025/26, GST-INCLUSIVE). Waste Water Charge — a targeted rate for waste water disposal under s16 LG(Rating)Act 2002: NZD 708.57 per separately used or inhabited part (SUIP) of a residential, multi-residential, rural, forestry and small-holding rating unit connected either directly or through a private drain to a public waste water drain; for commercial rating units NZD 177.14 per SUIP so connected (note: a trade-waste charge will also be levied). This is a FLAT per-SUIP charge (not volumetric) — the wastewater-discharge cost a mains-connected community incurs on top of the water-import cost; relevant to the D22 mains backstop and to splitting the water-only vs wastewater portions of a mains connection (RT_261 residual on the Watercare IGC split)."
source_location: "Item 7.3, resolution 11, (6) Waste Water Charge (p.5 of 8)"
- claim: "NELSON — OTHER HOUSEHOLD TARGETED RATES 2025/26 (context, GST-INCLUSIVE): Uniform Annual General Charge (s15) NZD 368.75 per SUIP; Stormwater Charge (targeted rate s16) NZD 408.24 per rating unit (all rating units excluding Rural, Saxton's Island and Council's stormwater network); Storm Recovery Charge (s16) NZD 300.00 per SUIP; Flood Protection Rate (s16) 0.03776 cents in the dollar of land value. General Rate is a differential land-value rate: residential single-dwelling 0.52638 c/$ land value; rural 0.34215 c/$ (−35% differential); commercial (excl inner city/Stoke) 1.27584 c/$ (+142.38%). These fix the wider council-rates burden context around the water lines but are not NI water cells."
source_location: "Item 7.3, resolution 11, (1) General Rate, (2) UAGC, (3) Stormwater Charge, (4) Storm Recovery Charge, (5) Flood Protection Rate (p.4–5 of 8)"
- claim: "NELSON — RATES REVENUE SPLIT 2025/26 (GST-EXCLUSIVE 'Revenue approved' totals, showing the relative scale of the water vs wastewater rating streams): General Rate NZD 60,981,935; Uniform Annual General Charge 8,202,320; Stormwater Charge 7,623,155; Storm Recovery Charge 6,765,203; Flood Protection Rate 3,523,127; Waste Water Charge 13,949,000; Water Annual Charge 5,219,238; Water Volumetric Charge 12,178,221; Rates and Charges (excluding GST) 118,442,199; GST 17,766,330; Total Rates and Charges 136,208,529. Water is raised roughly one-third via the fixed Annual Charge (5.22M) and two-thirds via the Volumetric Charge (12.18M) — i.e. Nelson recovers most water revenue on usage, not a flat charge."
source_location: "Item 7.3, resolution 11, 'Revenue approved' table (p.4 of 8)"Neobiome Intelligence relevance
Firms the D22 mains-import backstop opex cell (mains_connection) with a second metered-council anchor. CR_032 costed the mains backstop’s volumetric tariff off a single anchor (Watercare ~NZD 2.30–2.46/m³) and warned that many councils are unmetered. Nelson supplies the second data point, and it changes the picture in two ways the model should carry:
- Tariff STRUCTURE, not just level. Nelson is a two-part tariff: a fixed NZD 273.42/yr per metered connection plus a volumetric NZD 2.764/m³ (residential tier). The model’s
mains_water_opexcell should therefore befixed_annual + volumetric × m³, not volumetric-only — the single-figure Watercare treatment understates the annual cost for a low-consumption household (where the fixed charge dominates). - Level. Nelson’s residential volumetric rate (2.764/m³) sits above Watercare’s (2.46/m³) — so the national metered range widens to roughly NZD 2.46–2.76/m³ on these two anchors (both GST-basis-dependent — see the trap below), with a ~NZD 273/yr fixed component where the council uses a two-part tariff.
- Metered vs unmetered. Nelson charges a connection rate only “where a water meter is installed” and recovers ~⅔ of water revenue volumetrically — a fully metered council, a second counter-example to CR_032’s “many NZ councils are unmetered/rates-funded”. The count of unmetered councils across NZ is still open (RT_261 residual).
- Wastewater as a separable line. Nelson’s flat NZD 708.57/SUIP wastewater targeted rate is the discharge-side cost a mains-connected community carries on top of water import — directly useful for the RT_261 residual that asks to split water-only from wastewater (the Watercare IGC that CR_032 recorded as a combined NZD 21,175 charge). Nelson bills water and wastewater as separate rates, so a community importing water without discharging to the network would avoid the 708.57/SUIP line — the separation the model needs.
GST-basis comparability trap (same as REG_025)
Nelson’s per-unit charges here are GST-inclusive (the resolution states “The rates and charges below are GST inclusive”). CR_032’s Watercare figures (2.296→2.46/m³) do not state their GST basis. Do not put Nelson 2.764 and Watercare 2.46 in the same cross-council cell without first confirming and normalising the GST basis (add/strip 15%). This is the identical trap REG_025 flagged between ECan (incl) and Waikato (excl).
This is a data_quality: verified primary (an official statutory rates resolution read verbatim), unlike the AI-synthesised CR_032 (medium) — so the Nelson water/wastewater sub-figures it supplies are the strongest tier of evidence for the mains_connection opex cell.
Research targets
Documents to retrieve
- ADVANCES RT_261 (does not resolve). Nelson leg delivered. Still to retrieve for the sweep: Tasman District Council, Kāpiti Coast District Council, and Christchurch City Council 2025/26 water tariffs (RT_261). Tasman is the pilot region — its tariff is the highest-priority remaining leg.
- The Watercare Infrastructure Growth Charge water-only vs wastewater split (CR_032 recorded it as a combined NZD 21,175) — Nelson bills water and wastewater as separate rates, but the IGC split itself still needs the Watercare source (RT_261 residual).
Research gaps
- How many of NZ’s councils are unmetered / rates-funded for water (vs volumetric-metered) — the national-count question RT_261 raised. Two anchors so far (Auckland, Nelson) are both metered; a systematic count is still open (RT_261).
Notes
Single-file primary source — an 8-page Nelson City Council resolutions document, read verbatim via pdftotext -layout and figure-by-figure verified against the raw. The NI-load-bearing content is Item 7.3 (R25-220) “Adoption of the Annual Plan 2025/26 and setting of the rates”; the other agenda items (waste plan, internal audit plan, PC29, climate-adaptation area selection) are not ingested.
data_quality: verified reflects that every figure in key_claims was read directly from the statutory resolution (an official published council document, not an AI synthesis). ⚠ Two currency/basis qualifiers: (1) per-unit rates are GST-inclusive, the revenue totals GST-exclusive — recorded as such on each claim; (2) the tariff is for the 2025/26 rating year (1 Jul 2025 – 30 Jun 2026), matching the vintage of the Watercare 2025/26 anchor in CR_032.
Frontmatter sha256: pins the raw (e787c66c…). Cross-linked from CR_032 and the technology page mains_connection.
Connections
Links to
Technologies (1): Reticulated Water Connection (import w…
Referenced by
Sources (1): CR_032
EDT domains (1): D03: Water, Waste & Circular Systems
Technologies (1): Reticulated Water Connection (import w…