Latest update
The Alcohol Fees Bylaw 2024 was adopted by Council on 5 September 2024 following public consultation on the draft changes. All changes have been adopted and further minor amendments have been made to the Bylaw for clarity. A copy of the updated Bylaw will be available on the Council website.
About this project
Wellington City Council is undertaking a review of the Alcohol Fees Bylaw (the Bylaw), first introduced in 2019. We are seeking public feedback on proposed additional fee components and other amendments to the Bylaw.
What is the Bylaw and how does it work?
The Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012 (the Act) allows councils to collect fees to recover the total costs of their alcohol licensing functions.
Alcohol licences are issued to business owners who wish to sell or supply alcohol with the aim of maintaining the health and safety of the public and minimising the negative impacts caused by excessive or inappropriate consumption of alcohol. The Council appoints District Licensing Committee (DLC) members and licensing inspectors, administers licence applications, and ensures they comply with the Act.
The default fees set by the central government in the Sale and Supply of Alcohol (Fees) Regulations 2013 (the Regulations) are not sufficient to recover all costs incurred by the Council to carry out these licensing activities. The Act therefore allow councils to recover an amount higher than the national default if the Council first makes a bylaw to set fees.
When the Bylaw was introduced in 2019, a cost-recovery rate through fees was set at 71%, with the remaining 29% subsidised by general rates. This general rate component recognises the public good in enabling natural justice, allowing community members to participate in the licensing process and raise objections to licence applications at DLC hearings.
What has changed since the Bylaw was introduced?
The Bylaw was amended in 2021 to increase cost-recovery through fees to 85% and to charge a higher rate for high risk or very high risk rated licences. This was in response to public feedback that the fees should reflect the greater cost to Council to licence higher risk premises and ensure compliance with conditions.
Our cost-recovery goals were only partially achieved due to our COVID-19 pandemic fee relief package which saw licence fees reduced to $1 for a period in 2020, and 2022-23 to support businesses through recovery and inflationary pressures.
Why are we reviewing the Bylaw?
It is best practice to review Council bylaws within the first five years of adoption to ensure they are fit for purpose and in their most appropriate form.
Our industry stakeholders have also expressed a desire for a more flexible fees framework that rewards timely provision of information and compliant practices.
What are the proposed changes?
In a survey completed in March 2024, we heard from licensees about their experience with the application process and asked them how we can make our licence fees fairer.
Additional fee components
To help streamline the application process, we are proposing that the following additional fee components be included in the Bylaw. These proposed additional fees are intended to recognise the additional work required for some applications and reward those who provide complete and timely information in their application.
A mandatory pre-application meeting with an option to waive if the applicant is familiar with the application process. This aims to ensure new applicants understand the licensing process and will provide correct information to Council, reducing the time and cost of processing their application. The first meeting will not be charged, but additional pre-application meetings will be charged at $100 per hour.
These are targeted to special licence and licence renewal applications with a set date to recognise the extra work required by the DLC to process applications that have missed the deadline (more than 20 days prior to the licence date). This encourages operators to submit applications on time to ensure they are approved prior to the event or the start date of the renewal. The proposed fees are:
- 20% of the application fee if submitted within 10 days of the licence date
- 10% of the application fee if submitted between 11 - 20 days of the licence date
Other changes to the Bylaw
- Allowing alcohol licence fees to be set by Council resolution in future as part of annual planning or long-term planning processes. This will reduce the administrative burden of requiring a full Bylaw review each time fees need to be adjusted to meet cost-recovery targets.
- Specifying the cost-recovery rate in the Bylaw to provide certainty for future fee adjustments.
Note: we are not proposing an increase in the existing licensing fees set out in the Alcohol Fees Bylaw 2021, or a change to the cost-recovery rate.
