Video: Hastings District Council adopts Long Term Plan, including 25 percent rates rise, for public consultation
Updated
The Hastings District Council will consult the public on its Long Term Plan for 2024-2034, including an unprecedented proposed average rates increase of 25 percent for the next financial year.
This comes as council consultation documents reveal that the Council’s overall debt, thanks to Cyclone recovery and other costs, is set to peak at $701m.
At a meeting today, the Council adopted the long term plan for public consultation. This includes a proposed rates rise of 25 percent for 2024/25, followed by 15 percent rate increase the year after and a 10 percent increase in year three. It’s proposed that from years four to 10, the rating increase reduces to four per cent in the greater urban area, and to seven per cent in the rural area.
The Mayor of Hastings Sandra Hazlehurst told the meeting today that the process had been “incredibly hard” for staff.
“We have experienced in the last year the third-largest national disaster state of emergency call in Aotearoa, New Zealand, Cyclone Gabriel, on the 14th of February 2023. And from that time on, our year and 18 months has been incredibly difficult for our community, for our rebuild, for our ratepayers.”
“And today we look at the enormity of how we will pay for what we have been through. It's been certainly very challenging and uncertain times and very difficult planning environment, not knowing how we will attack and be able to rebuild our roading structure, our networks, and our temporary bridges.”
“We've spent $155 million on roading and slips and temporary bridges alone. We've spent about $50 million in the response, and we've also spent $50 million on the category three buyout, all borrowed money. The scale of investment required to rebuild our infrastructure post Cyclone Gabrielle calls for in this plan an 8 percent recovery targeted rate, to the damage to our network.”
Hazlehurst said that this long-term plan also focused on the infrastructure needed today and for future generations.
“We're experiencing enormous escalating costs, high inflation, high interest, high labour and materials. And today, we have a draft plan for your consideration, an engagement and communication plan to take to our community for them to give feedback on this draft plan.”
Councllor Wendy Schollum told the meeting that she was "shocked" to find herself in a position where she was supporting taking to consultation with the community a 25 percent rates increase. She said they had walked a "very tight rope to meet our obligations under the Local Government Act".
Councillor Damon Harvey said that the sting from Cyclone Gabrielle would be long.
"We will be paying for this for years to come. Going forward there has to be a better approach to both local and central government as the $1billion cost, or whatever it ends up being, can't land on 30,000 ratepayers of our district."
"The honeymoon of glory projects which we have had over the last two terms, I think, is unfortunately coming to an end."
Councillor Simon Nixon said: “We seem to be subjected to endless shocks impacting on the council.”
“Our debt was 50 million not that long ago. It's now forecasted to reach 400. The headroom is shrinking. I'm just starting to worry about what might happen in the future. How are we going to deal with the sort of shocks that we've had in recent years from the Havelock North water crisis, COVID, Cyclone Gabrielle, and also the other things that shock to opportunities that come up like AMT show grounds. How are we going to deal with this in the future to make sure we keep within the guidelines that we set with our debt limits?”
In response, the Hastings District Council CE Nigel Bickle said that the adoption of the fiscal strategy was going to require a disciplined approach to stay within the fiscal strategy that's adopted.
“And that lost opportunity will come along and need to be evaluated against the priorities of council. It's going to require some fiscal disciplines to stay within that fiscal strategy that says: ‘Well, if an opportunity comes along, what is the rating impact and what's coming out or going to be deferred?’
“Because we have to stay within the rails of the fiscal strategy in order to retain some headroom, because history since 2014 at the Opera House would say at the moment, they're coming along every couple of years.”
The community has until May 27 to give feedback on the draft plan that proposes a rate increase of 25 per cent for the 2024/25 year, eight per cent of which would be used to help fund the significant work required to repair and rebuild from Cyclone Gabrielle, the remainder to deliver core services.
People can read the consultation document and give their feedback online at myvoicemychoice.co.nz or at Hastings’ libraries (Flaxmere, Hastings, Havelock North) and the Hastings District Council customer service centre on Lyndon Rd East.
For what else is in the consultation documents for the Long Term Plan, read this previous Hawke’s Bau App story. https://cdn.hbapp.co.nz/news/news/hastings-district-council-debt-could-peak-at-701m
