Library fines drop in Waipā

Waipā District Council will join a nation-wide library movement in removing overdue library fines.

The decision comes as part of Council’s review of its fees and charges that were confirmed today after community consultation.

Council’s proposed 2023/24 fees and charges received 19 submissions from the community. Eight of these involved library fees and six were directly in support of the removal of the overdue fines.

Community services manager Brad Ward said the changes reflect what the community have been telling us.

“By removing these fees for overdue items, we’re now in line with many other libraries around the country. We agreed with feedback in 2019 to drop children’s overdue fines and we want to encourage as many people as possible to use our library services, this is one way we can do that.”

Approximately $18,000 is generated each year in overdue fines but the administration involved, and tension fines can create, has driven the change.

Both the Te Awamutu-Kihikihi and Cambridge Community Boards agreed with the removal of fines. The boards also provided feedback to reinstate the current charges for lost or damaged items, noting these charges enabled council to recover costs. Council agreed with these recommendations.

As part of the fees and charges review, Council will also introduce two new charges – including charging fees for multi-unit dwelling inspections and charging for Council’s food safety officers’ time spent on managing non-compliance issues. Both of these fees will be in place to recover the costs of staff time.

A full list of fees and charges will be available on council’s website waipadc.govt.nz/feesandcharges and come into effect from July 1, 2023.