Praise flows at healthy Napier bank balance

IN THE MONEY: Napier City Council's chief executive Wayne Jack is running a well-oiled machine. PHOTO/FILE

Time and money are two things that the Napier City Council is not short of.

Thanks to some prudent and efficient fiscal management from chief executive Wayne Jack and his team, the council's 2014-15 annual report was delivered two months early at an extraordinary meeting held at council chambers this week.

While Mr Jack and his team were ahead of time and under budget - the only thing that almost prevented the report from being adopted just as quickly was the Auditor's Opinion.

The meeting began at 2.30pm but was adjourned while staff frantically chased the Auditor-General's office for the Opinion - which it appears, according to the Auditor's Report, was finalised during the break.

Half an hour later the unqualified opinion was in the hands of Mr Jack, and the report was adopted unanimously. But not before some choice words of praise were offered to the team by councillors such as Kirsten Wise, who thanked and congratulated the team for their efforts.

Her colleague and Deputy Mayor Faye White echoed these sentiments, saying the report has some really good highlights.

"Just looking at it in a very broad-brush type of way, the simple things that you can just take out of it," she said.

"One is that you have got just over $6.5 million in surplus.

"You have got Napier rates as one of the lowest in terms provincial cities.

"So we have gone up $50 which is less than $1 dollar a week in terms of of our average residential rates

"And also our ratio to debt, which is 16 per cent."

According to the report the council met its debt affordability benchmark of the cost of servicing rate-funded debt not exceeding 16 per cent in 2014/15 and the four preceding years.

Speaking after the meeting, a relaxed and jovial Mayor Bill Dalton said the report was "fantastic".

"It just shows what a very efficient team that we have got now in our financial section," he said.

Mr Jack elaborated on this notion, saying that the some good processes had been put in place within the finance team.

"We have also got some very well-qualified staff," he said.

"So it is just about aligning everything together and this is a priority to get through."

Mr Jack said by pushing to have the report done now rather than two months later it allowed staff "to concentrate on this current year rather than sort of focusing too far in the past".

He said this effort would be repeated next year.

Looking to the report, there appears to be only good news for the city, with the council liquid, which means it is on top of its debt.

Moreover, Napier's rates were again some of the lowest in the region, coming in at an average of $1753.

That is after an increase of less than a dollar a week from $1705.

This comes in at $665 less than Tauranga's rates, which are $2418, and $266 less than Hastings District Council's rates.

When asked for comment on the report's findings, Mayor Dalton said it was clear that NCC had a lot of wriggle room.

"Our rates have constantly been about 30 per cent less than the same value property in Hastings," he said.

"And we are proud of that. As the mayor, what it means is that it is a great place to be a mayor of."

Mr Jack said it was about maintaining the balance with rates affordability.

"So we do look very closely at our communities in terms of what are the level of rates, in terms of average income," he said.

"So we balance that out as well."

So with the council's financials all in order, how will the money be reinvested into the community?

"A lot of it you will see has come through in the Long Term Plan [LTP]," Mr Jack said.

"So there are a lot of big capital projects - picking up on the council's strategic direction in terms of growth of the region, particularly of Napier.

"Attracting business here in terms of economic development opportunities and growing local business and events and tourism as well as maintaining and improving our infrastructure.

"So we have focused the LTP on achieving a lot of those."

This year the Destination Playground would also come to the council before heading out to community consultations, Mr Jack said.

"So that is a $2.5 million playground and an upgrade to Anderson Park if that is where it goes, if council decides to sign off on that."

Mr Jack said that in addition to this, the council would look at the velodrome and Pandora Pond, as well as a number of other capital projects.

"So it is about providing that right balance between the community wants and what tourists want to see as well.

"We are spending about $190 million over the next couple years."

Mayor Dalton added: "We are not a wealthy region, although with the momentum we have got now, we will be."