Napier Mayor Kirsten Wise says councils face a precarious balancing act with rates decisions.
Kirsten Wise is Mayor of Napier
OPINION
Rates should be lower. Entry fees to facilities are too high. Why isn’t the council clearing the waterways more often? Why aren’t potholes fixed faster?
How do we, as a council, make good on these conflicting statements, which very often come out of the same person’s mouth?
Unfortunately, Napier, we can’t have it both ways.
Residents expect Napier’s services, facilities and infrastructure to serve their needs. They all cost money, and costs are increasing.
Like it or not, legislation says we must seek most of that money from our residents, through rates, entry fees or other user charges. The trouble is people object to those increases.
Councils face a precarious balancing act. We are acutely aware of residents’ ability to bear the burden of cost increases. We also understand residents’ legitimate expectations that we deliver core services to their satisfaction.
This conundrum has brought us to a critical juncture. We need to increase rates, to maintain services. We also need to make tough choices for a strong future. If you disagree with that, what compromises would you have us make instead?
As elected representatives, we know residents expect adequate water infrastructure, waste and recycling collection, safe roads and a city that is vibrant, beautiful and welcoming. We also know that minimal rates increases year-on-year are not sustainable, and that it’s a poor long-term strategy for a prosperous and thriving city.
We need to think differently and come up with new solutions that will address the issue over the long term. To get there we need to make some tough choices. Tinkering around the edges isn’t going to cut it. To address our long-term financial sustainability, we’re proposing radical changes.
We’re rethinking some of our business and tourist facilities. The National Aquarium of New Zealand is an iconic Napier destination, but it’s no longer feasible for our ratepayers to pay for it. It doesn’t make financial sense to keep the aquarium in its current form.
Likewise, does it make sense for a council to operate a commercial business? We’re asking ourselves this question and exploring opportunities for external parties to take over the management and ownership of facilities such as Kennedy Park Resort and Ocean Spa.
Ahuriri Investments Management is our new investment arm that will start operating from July 1. Its mandate is to earn income from council assets to build a nest-egg for our ratepayers’ future. We’re so serious about this initiative, we’re proposing to limit any future council’s ability to withdraw from this investment portfolio beyond its net value without first consulting with you, the community.
This will protect its income and asset growth, which means we can eventually reduce future rates increases.
All these initiatives will help us to reduce future rates increases without compromising the more basic core services that residents would expect from their council. It means we can keep mowing the median strips at the same frequency. We can continue to plant out our beautiful Marine Parade gardens every season. Your rubbish and recycling will continue to be collected weekly. Sportsgrounds and playgrounds will continue to be maintained to a high standard.
In our current annual plan consultation, we are proposing an average rates increase of 7.9%. This seems very low compared to last year’s 19.95%, but it’s still significantly more than rates increases over the last 10 years. It’s still hard on many households.
The increase is due to inflationary costs, especially for electricity and gas. It’s also due to our required interest repayments on previous borrowing. We can look to cut energy costs where possible, and defer projects that require borrowing, but by and large, these cost increases are beyond our control.
Rates increases are a fact of life that are here to stay. So rather than resenting what you must contribute, I’m encouraging all residents to tell us how they think that contribution should be managed over the long term.
Transparency and collaboration with residents are vital as we work through these tough choices.
The annual plan consultation is open until April 30, so I encourage you to acquaint yourself well with the issues, before making a submission.
We’re looking for considered and informed thoughts and ideas from our residents. Head online to sayitnapier.nz and tell us what you think of our proposals.
