Taupō District Council looks to community to inform long-term planning

From 1 August, the Taupō District Council will present funding and service options for a community debate as part of its Long Term Plan (LTP 2012-2022) process. Council will do this to demonstrate good financial management and transparency so that the community can debate their preferences and inform the development of the Council’s draft LTP.

For the past month the Council has reviewed its assets, revenue and operating costs as part of the LTP and are looking at some key financial decisions. To involve the community in the decision-making, Council, at its 28 June meeting, adopted options for the community to debate and provide input on how to best address the funding issues.

The options are aimed to consider property sales in this current market to repay debt and possible phasing issues for any rates increases, funding and the services offered at community facilities, and the timeline for upgrading water treatment plants to meet government drinking water standards. The community will be asked to debate these issues among themselves, and also to give Council feedback on their preferences.

Mayor Rick Cooper said: “The global financial crisis, coupled with the subsequent recession, has meant that things have slowed for many. As with some households, the recession has had a major impact on the District’s financial position.

“In 2008, when Council developed the LTCCP, our long-term projections showed a significant increase in growth in rateable properties for the District. We sensibly prepared for that growth through infrastructure projects, but the growth never came.”

The Council’s Chief Executive has already made significant steps to respond to the recession’s impact on Council’s income with a high level review of staffing and a restructure. The decision was to reduce operating costs while maintaining a focus on providing services.

Over the last seven years, increases in Council’s operating costs have been largely driven by increases to fund depreciation and interest payments. Those costs have risen because of Council’s substantial investments in Council assets over the last five years. Payroll and operating expenses have increased at a much lower rate, and have been less, on average than the Local Government Cost Index.

Selling property to fund interest payments would be risky unless the level of property sales enabled a significant reduction in the level of debt. The decision is about the extent to which Council sell assets in a depressed market or holds them until the market recovers.

Council is currently putting together the information packs that will provide ratepayers with background information, an outline of the options and the process for feedback. The information will be accessible in both online and paper formats so that Council will be able to gather significant feedback across the District.