Our council has approved a draft annual plan with a 9.1 per cent increase in spending. That is roughly three times inflation. At the same time, ratepayers are being asked to accept higher rates while the council borrows $4.8 million just to fund day-to-day operations.
That should ring alarm bells for anyone who manages a budget, whether it is a household, a farm or a business.
Borrowing to build long-term infrastructure is one thing. Borrowing to keep the lights on is something else entirely. It is a sign that spending has got ahead of reality.
I stood against this approach and put forward an alternative that proves there is another way. My proposal holds rates to around inflation, removes borrowing for operational costs and refocuses council on its core responsibilities. It does this not through reckless cuts, but by making practical choices about what is essential and what is not.
Non-core activities are scaled back or paused. That includes areas like the art gallery and the Waiaroha water museum. Parks and reserves are maintained in a more cost-effective way. Library services continue, but with reduced hours that reflect financial reality. We also look hard at staffing in non-core areas and make better use of existing buildings rather than expanding costs.
The outcome is a balanced budget. No operational borrowing. No kicking the can down the road. This is not extreme: it is simply disciplined.
But there is another issue that ratepayers are increasingly questioning. While costs continue to rise, councils are spending time and energy on matters that many see as ideological rather than essential.
In Hastings, we have seen controversy around a walk on the flag exhibit at the art gallery, something many in the community found deeply offensive. At the same time, governance structures are shifting, with unelected mana whenua representatives and appointed experts taking positions alongside or instead of elected councillors on major entities like water services.
Whether one supports those moves or not, the concern is this: Are councils losing focus on their core job?
Ratepayers expect roads maintained, water delivered, waste managed and essential services run efficiently. That is the contract.
My experience in Hastings is not unique. It is a snapshot of a wider problem across the country.
Councils must get back to basics, live within their means, and treat ratepayer money with the same care that families apply to their own budgets.
Because, if they do not, the pressure on communities will only grow and confidence in local government will continue to erode.
Councils need to decide who they serve. Theories and trends, or the ratepayers who fund them.
It is time to get back to basics.
Steve Gibson is a Hastings District Council Councillor. This article was sourced HERE
Borrowing to build long-term infrastructure is one thing. Borrowing to keep the lights on is something else entirely. It is a sign that spending has got ahead of reality.
I stood against this approach and put forward an alternative that proves there is another way. My proposal holds rates to around inflation, removes borrowing for operational costs and refocuses council on its core responsibilities. It does this not through reckless cuts, but by making practical choices about what is essential and what is not.
Non-core activities are scaled back or paused. That includes areas like the art gallery and the Waiaroha water museum. Parks and reserves are maintained in a more cost-effective way. Library services continue, but with reduced hours that reflect financial reality. We also look hard at staffing in non-core areas and make better use of existing buildings rather than expanding costs.
The outcome is a balanced budget. No operational borrowing. No kicking the can down the road. This is not extreme: it is simply disciplined.
But there is another issue that ratepayers are increasingly questioning. While costs continue to rise, councils are spending time and energy on matters that many see as ideological rather than essential.
In Hastings, we have seen controversy around a walk on the flag exhibit at the art gallery, something many in the community found deeply offensive. At the same time, governance structures are shifting, with unelected mana whenua representatives and appointed experts taking positions alongside or instead of elected councillors on major entities like water services.
Whether one supports those moves or not, the concern is this: Are councils losing focus on their core job?
Ratepayers expect roads maintained, water delivered, waste managed and essential services run efficiently. That is the contract.
My experience in Hastings is not unique. It is a snapshot of a wider problem across the country.
Councils must get back to basics, live within their means, and treat ratepayer money with the same care that families apply to their own budgets.
Because, if they do not, the pressure on communities will only grow and confidence in local government will continue to erode.
Councils need to decide who they serve. Theories and trends, or the ratepayers who fund them.
It is time to get back to basics.
Steve Gibson is a Hastings District Council Councillor. This article was sourced HERE
5 comments:
The council model throughout NZ is broken and doesn’t work if it ever worked in the first place. Councillors are nominated by their community boards without an ounce of financial or fiscal expertise to manage our multi billion dollar enterprises. They bring their own political baggage and spend more time at odds around the table than delivering frugal responsibility. These business failures even get to write their own glorious profiles to con the voters. Meanwhile the voting public has demonstrated their lack of faith in this broken system as voter turnout plummets.
Like his predecessors, our Minister for Local Govt, Simon Watts, wouldn’t have a clue that the council model is broken and should be abandoned and replaced with a meaningful structure to serve the poor bloody ratepayers.
Democracy has gone from Councils when they put paid, unelected Maori with voting rights onto their committees.
That is a distortion of democracy, and the fiscal implications are huge with ratepayers money being siphoned off for Maori causes and corruption.
Couldn’t agree more. NZ would be a happier place if Councils stuck to providing the basics that a town needs to function, eliminated half the red tape & make-job bureaucrats, & stopped empowering tribal bullies from ripping off ratepayers & private property owners. A few of us could sort it in an afternoon of yeas or nays.
Rob, you are correct. Here’s a possible option.
Select councillors by random ballot, from the district ratepayer list, with the following filters;
1. No-one under 45 or over 70;
2. No-one with criminal convictions;
3. Not a political party member;
4. Entirely self-supporting;
5. IQ over 105:
6. Normal psychological profile.
Limit payment to the minimum wage.
From a selected body with these requirements you might get a very sound council. But one other thing. Dismissal of the council CEO on a majority vote might be a very useful condition.
Why should they. Their big brother, the Government, has zero intention of doing so.
Although they are hypocritical enough to demand councils limit increases, all while they just spray money wherever they want.
Post a Comment
Thank you for joining the discussion. Breaking Views welcomes respectful contributions that enrich the debate. Please ensure your comments are not defamatory, derogatory or disruptive. We appreciate your cooperation.