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Levies, fees and charges

Levies

In late 2024, we consulted on behalf of the Minister of Local Government on proposed levies payable by councils or council-controlled organisations (CCOs) to help fund water services regulation.  

In May 2025, Cabinet made the final decision on how the levies will be made up and implemented.   

Water Services Authority – Taumata Arowai levies  

Cabinet confirmed that levies will be introduced to help fund the work of the Water Services Authority – Taumata Arowai (the Authority) regulating drinking water suppliers for safety and quality and overseeing the environmental performance of drinking water, stormwater and wastewater networks. 

From 1 July 2025, the Authority will primarily be funded through levies charged to territorial authorities or their chosen service delivery organisations. The levy amount for the first 3 years is $20.658 million per annum (excluding GST). 

The levy will be apportioned to each territorial authority based on census population data, ensuring consistency and transparency. (The Chatham Islands Council is excluded from the levy regime as much of its funding comes from central government and the benefits associated with regulation were assessed as unlikely to outweigh the costs.)

Separate levies will apply for drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater and based on the Authority’s costs for the activities linked to those individual services, though they will be invoiced together for administrative simplicity where appropriate. 

The percentage split between the three waters varies year on year as the estimated cost of delivering activities changes over this period. The cost estimates have been determined by an internal Authority review of its cost structure and resource allocation, adjusted for expected changes in activity levels as a result of water reforms. 

The levy tables below provide a detailed breakdown of the levy apportionment for each territorial authority (click on the accordion arrows below to view the tables). 

The tables includes a row for each territorial authority, a column showing the 2023 census number for that territorial authority, the amount of levy they have been apportioned split by drinking water, wastewater and stormwater and their total levy for the year. 

Levies split by water per financial year

Crown funding

The Authority will also continue to receive Crown funding of $4.642 million per annum to cover functions and activities the Authority delivers that have a significant public good including supporting community-owned drinking water suppliers, reporting, regulatory system design and setting standards for greater national consistency. For more information, see:  

• Cabinet paperoutbound
• Cost Recovery Impact Statement (CRIS)outbound
• Water Services (Levies on Water Services) Regulations 2025outbound
• Gazette notice.outbound

Summary of submissions  

A consultationoutbound was held from 26 November 2024 to 24 January 2025 on proposed levies for councils and their CCOs to fund water services quality regulation. We received 51 submissions. 

The summary of submissions provides an overview of all the feedback we received on specific questions and highlights some of the key themes that emerged.    

• Summary of submissions
• Individual submissions.outbound

What happens next?  

The regulations for the levies made under s 201 of the Water Services Act 2021 come into effect from 1 July 2025.  

We will work with councils and CCOs in the lead up to implementation to ensure our administration is as efficient and straightforward as possible for all parties.  

Fees and charges

The Water Services (Fees and Charges) Regulations 2021 stipulate the fees and charges that must be paid for applications under the Water Services Act 2021.outbound These currently apply to the following: 

• registering temporary drinking water supplies for planned events  
• general exemptions  
• residual disinfection exemptions. 

The fees and charges are based on recovering actual and reasonable costs to process the applications. All fees and charges listed below are exclusive of GST.  

Application fees and charges are set out in the table below.  

• Application fees: include a minimum number of hours for assessment and must be paid when the application is submitted.
• Charges that may be applied to applications include:  
  
  • additional assessment hours at $130 per hour, plus partial hours, after the hours included in the application fee  
  • expert advice (generally for residual disinfection exemption applications only) capped at $400 per hour  
  • incidental costs (travel, accommodation or reasonable associated costs). 

The charges will be invoiced after the decision has been made and notified to the applicant. 

How do I pay the application fee?   

After your application has been submitted you’ll receive an email outlining the fee, how to pay it, and what happens next. An invoice for the application fee will be sent to the billing address provided in your application form.   

You can either pay on the invoice or via internet banking to the Taumata Arowai account number 03-0566-0225575-000 with the following information:  

• Reference field: the unique identifier from the email 

• Code field: name of your event  

This information will help us confirm the payment is for your application so the assessment process can begin.

The application fee is non-refundable if the application is declined following the assessment process.

Estimating final charges for applications 

Once you’ve paid your application fee, we’ll do an initial assessment to confirm if the fee covers the assessment process.   

If the application fee doesn’t cover the estimated processing costs: 

• we’ll advise you of the estimated final charges  
• you’ll be asked to confirm you accept the estimated charges 
• once you’ve accepted the estimated charges, the assessment will begin 
• we’ll email you and provide an invoice once the decision has been made.

If you don’t accept the estimated charges, please let us know you’ll be withdrawing your application. You will then receive a full refund. 

The estimated final charge may be revised to: 

• reflect changed circumstances  
• correct errors for incidental cost charges  
• more accurately reflect the amount likely to be payable for any other charges (i.e. assessment or expert advice charges).

We’ll advise you if these situations arise.  

The Regulations sets a cap on the charge for incidental costs. However, there is no cap for assessment and expert advice charges. The estimate is an indication of the final charge.

When may a refund, waiver or reduction apply? 

The Chief Executive of the Water Services Authority - Taumata Arowai may refund, waive or reduce a fee or charge if it is: 

• necessary to correct an administrative error; or 
• unreasonable to recover the fee or charge.