Taupō District Council faces tough decision over Better Off Funding package

Central government is offering Taupō District Council $4.93 million of funding associated with the Three Waters reforms. Photo / Getty Images

Apply for free money which could be used to benefit the community? Or turn it down to register your opposition to a reform which will almost certainly become mandatory anyway?

Those were the tough questions facing councillors at a Taupō District Council workshop on Tuesday.

Central government is offering Taupō District Council $4.93 million of funding associated with the Three Waters reforms. Applying for the so-called Better Off Funding package does not mean the council agrees with the reforms – and in fact, it has come out in strong opposition to them.

But councillors were torn between doing what is financially prudent, which would be to apply for the $4.93m and use it for important projects which benefit the community and ratepayers or continue to signal their dislike of the reforms by refusing to apply at all, thus forgoing much-needed money which would otherwise come from rates.

Legal advice was that even if the council decided to apply for the Better Off Funding, it wouldn't be constrained from criticising the reforms publicly. Councillors had earlier come out swinging, voicing their "strong opposition" to the Three Waters reforms at a previous workshop.

The funding has to be directed to projects which meet certain criteria. These include: community wellbeing, infrastructure for housing, and climate change initiatives. Of the council's four potential projects that would use the funding, the majority of councillors favoured a much-needed upgrade to the district's landmark sports hub, Owen Delany Park.

Councillors said they were aware of the risk that applying for the funding would look as though they accepted the Three Waters reforms. However, while they remained strongly opposed to the Government-mandated reforms, it was after all a substantial sum of free money that could be put to great use to benefit the Taupō District.

While most of the councillors recognised this was a very difficult position to be in, the majority felt they should take the money and use it well on behalf of the community.

The council will next consult with iwi/hapū on the proposed use of the funds as part of the funding application process.