RDC finalises Annual Plan and rates for coming year

If Rotorua District Council (RDC) had not been faced with an extra half million dollar bill for insurance premiums it might have been possible to reduce this year’s rates increase for the 2011/12 year down further to just over 2% says Mayor Kevin Winters.

Mr Winters was commenting on the council’s new annual plan for the 2011/12 financial year which was adopted at a council meeting yesterday and which confirmed the previously proposed below inflation rates increase of 3.1%.

Mr Winters said the council’s insurance advisors had told officials that one of the consequences of the Christchurch earthquakes was that RDC could expect a massive jump in annual premiums to around one million dollars.

“While the hike in insurance premiums is disappointing and beyond our control I’m pleased that we have still held good our commitment to the community to keep rates increases low while maintaining the levels of service we provide our community.

“A 3.1% increase is amongst the lowest in the country and below the 4% to 5% figure forecast for inflation in 2011/12.”

Mr Winters said his councillors had prepared a careful and responsible budget that acknowledged the challenging economic times everyone was facing.

“Equally important is that the annual plan provides opportunities for growing the local economy for the benefit of all residents. It would have been easy to slash budgets and cut services but submissions we received showed the community would not support a reduction in service levels.”

RDC Chief executive Peter Guerin said this had been one of the toughest annual plans and budgets he had ever had to pull together. He said the council had made it clear that this year's rates rise needed to stay under inflation but at the same time they were not prepared to see any significant cut to our services.

“Our staff have risen to the occasion in order to achieve this, and they are under no illusions that they will be working very hard in this coming year to maintain service standards but with smaller budgets in many cases. The three overriding themes of our ten year plan had been economic growth, sustainability and affordability and these go hand-in-hand in our plans for this year.”

Mr Guerin said the annual plan allowed for newly developed tourism and economic development strategies to be implemented, CBD upgrade initiatives, funding for trans-Tasman joint venture marketing with Air New Zealand, and $4 million in interest payments on airport infrastructure development loans.

“It also cuts previously planned capital expenditure, introduces a new parking policy and pricing regime for on-street parking, a new targeted rate for stormwater and land drainage, increased cemetery and cremation fees and more sewerage schemes for lakeside communities aimed at improving the quality of Rotorua’s lakes.”

Mr Guerin said the council received more than 2700 submissions on the draft annual plan during the consultation phase, many of them in support of council plans, and others opposed to various issues. He said the council had considered every single submission and had made some changes to the draft plan as a result of a number of them.

“For example many submitters pointed out the impact introducing a $1 spectator fee could have on families, and the mayor and councillors agreed to drop the fee.

“They also added $100,000 to the budget in response to submissions asking for a partnership with retailers and Police aimed at improving community safety in the CBD.”

Mr Guerin said the new annual Plan for 2011/11 would be available in full on the council website next week.