WAITOMO Mayor John Robertson
Councils are under the gun right now to complete their 2024-2033 10-year budgets. This is called a “Long Term Plan” or LTP. We must have these plans in place by July 1.
The LTP includes the setting of rates. I know of no mayors or councillors who have enjoyed receiving the requests for increased expenditures and rate rises that their chief executives made to them prior to Christmas.
Nearly all were seeking double digit rate increases, driven almost entirely by cost rises due to inflation.
Waitomo is no exception.
In our region, Hamilton tops the list with an initial proposal for a 25% rate increase. You’ll be relieved to learn that Waitomo will be nowhere near this.
Over the past four years, Hamilton has been increasing its debt while Waitomo has reduced it.
Hamilton has been running deficits, Waitomo surpluses. We are very different organisations.
Yet, I sense that our cautious approach to spending has paid off. We need to continue to act with caution. There are always surprises around the corner, many of which require additional investment.
Properties in Te Kūiti flooded last year. Roads on the west coast suffered severe storm damage. Attending to this type of core infrastructure damage must be a priority.
There are also new challenges to address.
In the coming year, these include a complete review of the way we deal with waste.
Government levies charged to councils for waste are increasing and regulations are tightening up. We all have a responsibility to reduce what goes to landfill by recycling, composting, and minimising household waste.
This year logging in parts of our district will increase substantially.
We expect this to have a positive impact on jobs, especially if the logs are processed locally.
But this will also cause damage to some local roads. Just how these roads are maintained, and who pays, are questions we have before us.
The biggest single project advancing this year is drinking water-related.
Te Kūiti needs a pipe from the river to its reservoirs; it also needs additional reservoir capacity.
This is well overdue from a risk perspective, requiring investment of around $9 million.
Waitomo Council’s elected members are reviewing budgets now.
We are challenging business as usual, making every effort to keep council costs and thus your rates as low as possible.
We will table a draft LTP in March and will consult with residents and ratepayers on this in April.
