Section 36 — Resource Management Act 1991: Administrative charges

36 Administrative charges (1) A local authority may from time to time, subject to subsection (2) , fix charges of all or any of the following kinds: (a) Charges payable by applicants for the preparation or change of a policy statement or plan, for the carrying out by the local authority of its functions in relation to such applications: (b) Charges payable by applicants for resource consents, for the carrying out by the local authority of its functions in relation to the receiving, processing, and granting of resource consents (including certificates of compliance and existing use certificates): (c) Charges payable by holders of resource consents, for the carrying out by the local authority of its functions in relation to the administration, monitoring, and supervision of resource consents (including certificates of compliance and existing use certificates), and for the carrying out of its resource management functions under section 35 : (ca) charges payable by persons seeking authorisations under Part 7A , for the carrying out by the local authority of its functions in relation to the allocation of authorisations (whether by tender or any other method), including its functions preliminary to the allocation of authorisations: (cb) charges payable by holders of resource consents, for the carrying out by the local authority of its functions in relation to reviewing consent conditions, if— (i) the review is carried out at the request of the consent holder; or (ii) the review is carried out under section 128(1)(a) ; or (iii) the review is carried out under section 128(1)(c) : (d) Charges payable by requiring authorities and heritage protection authorities, for the carrying out by the local authority of its functions in relation to designations and heritage orders: (e) Charges for providing information in respect of plans and resource consents, payable by the person requesting the information: (f) Charges for supply of documents, payable by the person requesting the document: (g) Any kind of charge authorised for the purposes of this section by regulations. Charges fixed under this subsection shall be either specific amounts or determined by reference to scales of charges or other formulae fixed by the local authority. (2) Charges may be fixed under subsection (1) only— (a) in the manner set out in section 150 of the Local Government Act 2002 ; and (b) after using the special consultative procedure set out in section 83 of the Local Government Act 2002 ; and (c) in accordance with subsection (4) . (3) Where a charge fixed in accordance with subsection (1) is, in any particular case, inadequate to enable a local authority to recover its actual and reasonable costs in respect of the matter concerned, the local authority may require the person who is liable to pay the charge, to also pay an additional charge to the local authority. (3A) A local authority must, upon request by any person liable to pay a charge under this section, provide an estimate of any additional charge likely to be imposed under subsection (3) . (4) When fixing charges referred to in this section, a local authority shall have regard to the following criteria: (a) The sole purpose of a charge is to recover the reasonable costs incurred by the local authority in respect of the activity to which the charge relates: (b) A particular person or persons should only be required to pay a charge— (i) To the extent that the benefit of the local authority's actions to which the charge relates is obtained by those persons as distinct from the community of the local authority as a whole; or (ii) Where the need for the local authority's actions to which the charge relates is occasioned by the actions of those persons; or (iii) In a case where the charge is in respect of the local authority's monitoring functions under section 35(2)(a) (which relates to monitoring the state of the whole or part of the environment), to the extent that the monitoring relates to the likely effects on the environment of those persons' activities, or to the extent that the likely benefit to those persons of the monitoring exceeds the likely benefit of the monitoring to the community of the local authority as a whole,— and the local authority may fix different charges for different costs it incurs in the performance of its various functions, powers, and duties under this Act— (c) In relation to different areas or different classes of applicant, consent holder, requiring authority, or heritage protection authority; or (d) Where any activity undertaken by the persons liable to pay any charge reduces the cost to the local authority of carrying out any of its functions, powers, and duties. (5) A local authority may, in any particular case and in its absolute discretion, remit the whole or any part of any charge of a kind referred to in this section which would otherwise be payable. (6) Sections 357B to 358 (which deal with rights of objection and appeal against certain decisions) shall apply in respect of the requirement by a local authority to pay an additional charge under subsection (3) . (7) Where a charge of a kind referred to in subsection (1) is payable to a local authority, the local authority need not perform the action to which the charge relates until the charge has been paid to it in full. Subsection (1)(b) was amended, as from 10 August 2005, by section 17(1) Resource Management Amendment Act 2005 (2005 No 87) by inserting the words “ and existing use certificates ” after the word “ compliance ” . See sections 131 to 135 of that Act as to the transitional provisions. Subsection (1)(c) was amended, as from 10 August 2005, by section 17(2) Resource Management Amendment Act 2005 (2005 No 87) by inserting the words “ and existing use certificates ” after the word “ compliance ” . See sections 131 to 135 of that Act as to the transitional provisions. Subsection (1)(ca) was inserted, as from 1 January 2005, by section 8 Resource Management Amendment Act (No 2) 2004 (2004 No 103). Subsection (1)(cb) was inserted, as from 10 August 2005, by section 17(3) Resource Management Amendment Act 2005 (2005 No 87). See sections 131 to 135 of that Act as to the transitional provisions. Subsection (2) was substituted, as from 1 July 2003, by section 262 Local Government Act 2002 (2002 No 84). See sections 273 to 314 of that Act as to the savings and transitional provisions. Subsection (3A) was inserted, as from 1 August 2003, by section 16 Resource Management Amendment Act 2003 (2003 No 23). See sections 109 to 113 of that Act as to the transitional and savings provisions. Subsection (6) was amended, as from 10 August 2005, by section 17(4) Resource Management Amendment Act 2005 (2005 No 87) by substituting the expression “ 357B to ” for the expression “ 357 and ” . See sections 131 to 135 of that Act as to the transitional provisions.