Proposed Alcohol Licensing Fees Bylaw

Background

Council has a range of alcohol licensing functions under the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012 (the Act). Our alcohol licensing fees were set at default levels under the Act and had not risen since the fees were first set in 2013. While the fees stayed the same, the cost of running alcohol licensing has risen substantially. This means Kāpiti Coast ratepayers were subsidising licensing fees by about 30 percent.

Our proposal

We proposed an Alcohol Licensing Fees Bylaw to enable us to set our own fees to reduce the expense on ratepayers to around 10 percent. It's fair that some of the cost should fall on us, as Council has a role in minimising alcohol-related harm and gives the community the opportunity to have a say when applications are made to the licensing committee. If we don't do anything, ratepayers will pay $633,000 over the next five years to subsidise the licensing fees. The new fees set under the proposed bylaw save ratepayers $387,000.

The paper to council recommended that license application fees, annual licensing fees, and special license application fees be increased. Manager’s certificates are excluded as they are outside the scope of a bylaw. The fee increases mainly affect medium to high-risk premises like pubs and chain stores or supermarkets, not small daytime cafes, or intimate high-end restaurants.

Wellington City and Hutt City have introduced a similar bylaw.

For more detailed information, read the Alcohol Fees Bylaw 2024 Consultation Document.