During 2014 Marlborough District Council used IBIS Rates Modelling, to analyse the rates impact of the:

  • 3 yearly property revaluation,
  • Proposed changes in the rating areas and benefit allocations for our River planning, control and flood protection activity with 10 differential targeted areas and rates, rated on Capital Value.

The models produced information enabling analysis and evaluation of the proposed new rating areas, benefit allocations and the impact on targeted rates and total rates for 3 different benefit scenarios. These were modelled using both the current and the future valuations.

One of the major benefits of using IBIS Rates Modelling was the functionality that allowed Council personnel to identify all properties falling outside the normal distribution, and therefore re-evaluate the robustness of proposed changes. This allowed several model iterations after making refinements to both the rating areas and the benefit weighting factors.

During 2015 Marlborough District Council also implemented IBIS PRO with the Funding Policy Designer. This system can handle the rating complexities of a Unitary Authority with general rates and uniform charges for 6 geographic areas each with further differentials for residential/rural, industrial/commercial and homestay/farmstay, and a number of targeted rates. In addition, there is also a differential flood protection rate based on capital value, while the remainder of the rates are land value based. This sophisticated allocation model enabled the allocation of district wide activity costs to the geographic rating areas using various benefit weightings. During the LTP we used the toolset to model all 10 years, as we had some significant funding movements in some of the later years. The outputs of the model benchmark properties were specifically customised to reflect the layout required by council for LTP reporting.

The above work was completed at the same time that Council was implementing a new budgeting system. The dual implementation was challenging in a LTP year. IBIS Pro replaced processes and many complex worksheets that had been in place for over 10 years. The value of the IBIS Funding Policy Designer became apparent as we could easily insert / change rating mechanisms with confidence in the integrity of the result, minimising the reliance Council has had on the one person who had knowledge of how all processes and interlinked worksheets worked.

Murray South
Financial Services Manager