Manukau property developers face new levy

From Tuesday, property developers or owners applying for resource or building consents will pay the levy of $4505 plus GST, which will help to cover infrastructure costs.

The levy might be hidden or absorbed in the cost of new developments but they already attract about $35,000 in separate council fees for stormwater, wastewater, water supply and roading contributions.

Manukau's population grew by 8600 last year.

About 3000 new homes and hundreds of commercial building projects were completed.

"The idea is that we capture new development within the city and that's allowed for under the Local Government Act as part of our funding arrangements for the costs of growth," said Gary Pritchard, council senior policy analyst for development contributions.

The levy, which is on top of site-specific financial contributions under the Resource Management Act, was expected to bring in about $153 million over 10 years for transportation, including roading and public transport needs resulting from growth, community infrastructure such as libraries and swimming pools and town centre development.

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