What's in Far North's Annual Plan 2026/27 and what's missing

Far North District Council's Annual Plan 2026/27 is the district's operating and capital budget for the year beginning 1 July 2026. It sets rates, fees, and spending across every council function. This post pulls out the numbers that ratepayers are unlikely to have seen in the consultation headlines.

RMA fees are rising at multiples of inflation

The plan's stated approach is to increase most council fees by 2.4%, in line with CPI. That applies to building consents, dog registrations, environmental health licences, and dozens of other charges. Resource consent fees, however, are a different story.

The deposit fee for a notified resource consent hearing — the hearing required when an application affects the wider public — rises from $2,028 to $10,000, an increase of 393%. The fee for a combined subdivision and land use consent rises from $5,143 to $8,000 (+55%). A 1-to-4 lot subdivision jumps from $3,044 to $5,000 (+64%). A simple land use consent — defined as a single zone rule breach with no engineering assessment required — rises from $1,575 to $2,500 (+59%). Varying or cancelling a consent condition that requires engineering assessment goes from $1,264 to $2,800 (+121%). Engineering Plan Approvals climb from $385 to $500 (+29.9%), and the vehicle crossing application and inspection fee rises from $308 to $450 (+46%).

On top of every RMA application sits a new flat technology fee of $120, described as recovering the cost of digital consent management systems. The first 30 minutes of pre-application meetings, previously provided free, are removed under the new schedule, with the hourly rate rising to $353.

These are deposit fees — actual processing costs are billed in addition.

Four rates that apply to every property — connected or not

The plan continues to levy four targeted rates charged on every rating unit across the entire district. None are new for 2026/27 — they were set in earlier Long Term Plans (the $15 water and $15 sewerage public good rates from 1 July 2021, the $10 stormwater public good rate from 1 July 2024, and the $100 uniform roading rate a long-standing charge) and are carried forward unchanged:

• $100 uniform targeted roading rate — a flat annual charge on all rateable properties to part-fund the roading network, including sealed and unsealed roads, bridges, footpaths, cycleways, streetlights, and ferry services.
• $10 stormwater public good rate — a flat annual charge on every rating unit in the district. The plan document states this recognises that all properties benefit "directly or indirectly" from a stormwater network that provides protection from flooding, including properties with no physical connection to any stormwater infrastructure.
• $15 district-wide sewerage public good rate — a flat annual charge on every rating unit, including rural and unconnected properties. The plan document states that those not connected to a scheme still benefit from reticulated systems.
• $15 water public good rate — a flat annual charge on every rating unit. The same rationale applies: benefit from public water infrastructure is deemed to exist regardless of whether a property is connected.

A property with no connection to stormwater, sewerage, or water reticulation pays rates for all three networks, plus the roading charge — about $140 in standing flat targeted-rate charges, carried unchanged into 2026/27 before any rate increases are factored in.

$9.7 million in rates spending with no published performance targets

The plan allocates $9.735 million in 2026/27 to a function called Strategic Relationships, funded entirely from general rates. The Proposed Funding Impact Statement for that function shows the money flowing to staff, suppliers, and internal overheads, recording a surplus of $33,000.

The document contains no published performance measures for the Strategic Relationships function — no targets, no metrics, no indicators against which ratepayers could evaluate outcomes. The funding impact statement is a financial summary only. The plan documents do not describe which external bodies receive funding through this programme, what governance obligations apply, or how the council will assess whether the expenditure has delivered results.

A $300,000 surveillance network with no published governance

The Capital Works Programme allocates $300,000 for a new Public Safety Camera Network under the Corporate Services group. Camera networks involve decisions about placement, data access, retention periods, and who can query footage. None of those parameters appear in the plan documents.

Dividend income drops 86% — no explanation in consultation documents

The plan's Prospective Statement of Comprehensive Revenue and Expense shows dividend income falling from $5.0 million in the 2025/26 Annual Plan to $710,000 in 2026/27 — a reduction of $4.29 million, or 86%. The Long Term Plan 2024–2034 had projected dividends at $2.0 million for this year; the actual Annual Plan figure comes in 64% below even that reduced forecast.

The consultation documents contain no narrative explanation for why dividend income has declined at this scale or what has changed in FNDC's investment vehicle.

In summary

The 2026/27 Annual Plan introduces fee increases that range from 2.4% to 393% depending on the activity, carries forward four standing universal charges totalling $140 per property per year regardless of infrastructure connection, allocates $9.7 million to a function with no published performance benchmarks, and proposes a surveillance network without a published governance framework. A $4.3 million shortfall in dividend income is recorded in the financial statements but not addressed in the consultation material.