Whangarei District Council has one of the lowest personnel costs in the country, but how does it rate in other areas? Photo / NZME
Whangarei District Council has one of the lowest personnel costs in the country, but how does it rate in other areas? Photo / NZME
A new report reveals Northland homeowners pay lower rates than the New Zealand average and that Whangārei District Council runs one of the tightest ships in the country in terms of personnel costs.
The results may come as a surprise to Northlanders struggling to pay their rates.
However, the reportalso shows the Far North District Council has 100 staff earning more than $100,000 a year.
It also shows the Kaipara District Council has the second-highest costs relating to debt in the country.
Of the 65 councils that would provide figures, the Far North ranked 37th with average residential rates of $2542, less than the national average of $2644.
Kaipara District Council was next with $2433 (43rd place) while Whangārei District Council was near the bottom with $2294 (54th place).
The table places Auckland firmly at the top of the ratepayer cost scale with the average property owner in the supercity paying residential rates of $3656 a year. Southland was the cheapest with average rates of $1936.
This is one league table where the closer you are to the bottom, the better — in terms of impact on ratepayers' wallets anyway. ,The information comes from the annual Ratepayer Report league tables prepared by the Taxpayers Union, a right-wing lobby group.
If provincial councils are grouped together, to ensure apples are compared with apples, the Far North ranks 16th out of 26, Kaipara 19th and Whangārei 24th.
When it comes to non-residential rates the Far North ($4065, 32nd out of 65) and Whangārei ($4050, 33rd) occupy the middle ground while Kaipara is slightly lower ($3830, 44th place).
Those figures are, however, skewed by districts with a small number of very large businesses. They include Kawerau where the average non-residential rates are $36,714.
In terms of staffing, the Far North has the most personnel overall — and by far the most earning six-figure salaries — of Northland's three district councils.
Kaipara District Council has the second-highest costs relating to debt in the country. Photo / NZME
The Far North has 429 employees (100 - 23.3 per cent - of whom earn more than $100,000), Whangārei 380 (43 - 11.3 per cent - on $100,000+) and Kaipara 193 (31 - 16 per cent - on $100,000+).
According to the Taxpayer's Union, Northland's best-paid council chief executive is Whangārei's Simon Weston on $345,025, followed by the Far North's Blair King on $339,000 and Kaipara's Louise Miller on $315,542.
For comparison, Auckland has 10,929 staff with 3002 - 27.4 per cent - earning more than $100,000 and a chief executive on just under $600,000.
Because councils vary wildly in size, a better measure of staffing levels is personnel cost per household.
By that measure, all Northland councils have lower staffing costs than average but Whangārei is a stand-out.
The figures are $1143 for the Far North (38th place), $1092 for Kaipara (44th place) and a mere $747 for Whangārei (64th of the 65 councils that provided data).
Across New Zealand, Waitomo had the highest personnel costs per household ($3639).
When it comes to debt, however, one Northland council is among the worst in New Zealand.
Kaipara's financing cost per household (a measure of debt relative to population) is $178 per year, the second-highest in the country. Those high debt costs are a result of the disastrous cost blow-out of the Mangawhai sewage scheme 10 years ago.
Far North District Council has the most personnel overall - and by far the most earning six-figure salaries - of Northland's three district councils a new report has found. Photo NZME
The debacle prompted the government to replace elected councillors with commissioners and to pass a law retrospectively legalising improperly levied rates.
Financing costs in Whangārei were $130 per household (34th out of 65 councils) and in the Far North $110 (35th).
The highest financing cost per household, $911, is paid by Christchurch ratepayers due to rebuilding costs after the 2011 earthquake.
• All figures have been rounded to the nearest dollar. Waitaki and Ōpotoki district councils were the worst offenders when it came to refusing to supply figures.
