Mayor plans cuts to reduce rates

Wellington City Council had to find $10 million in savings to prevent a significant rates hike.

Mayor Justin Lester said if the council did not make the cuts, residents would have faced a 7.1 per cent increase in 2018/19 to pay for big-ticket items, such as the Wellington Town Hall restoration and Sir Peter Jackson’s movie museum.

Trimming the fat had whittled the hike down to 4.5 per cent but his ambition was to get it to the 3 per cent region and keep it consistent over the next decade.

Rates increases were a reality for councils, though Wellington was at the lower end of the scale, he said.

Auckland had a 2 per cent increase but with hidden levies, that totalled about 6.2 per cent; Christchurch would lift its rates by 6 per cent; Tauranga would rise by 9.7 and Hamilton was increasing by 9.5 per cent, he added.

‘‘We want to keep Wellington more affordable by looking closely at what we are spending … I want to get the rates down by [saving] about $10m.’’

Taxpayers’ Union researcher Garrick Wright-McNaughton said last year, the council’s chief executive said the city’s spending represented good value for money.

‘‘Now the mayor is saying there’s fat to trim. This is a significant but welcome U-turn. [Lester] should target the council’s personnel costs, particularly the 191 staff earning more than $100,000.’’

The council is in the process of finalising its 10-year Long Term Plan (LTP) and Lester has asked the council’s business units to find savings in their budgets.

Lester said he was still battling to keep his campaign promise of affordable rates. ‘‘It has been hard

"We want to keep Wellington more affordable by looking closely at what we are spending."

Wellington Mayor Justin Lester

work but we are getting there.’’

Every 1 per cent he wanted to save was equivalent to $3m, he said.

The council was prioritising its spending, which meant some projects would be deferred but core services would not.

‘‘Rather than have everything in year one, we are moving things across the 10 years of the LTP. An absolute priority is the [$90m] town hall.’’

A focus on resilience would see projects such as the $30m Prince of Wales reservoir and strengthening the Ngaio Gorge Rd retaining walls, pushed to the start of the works plan.

Significant investments would be also made in Predator Free Wellington and to celebrate a decade of capital culture, he said.

The $150m combined movie museum and convention centre – a ‘‘big chunk’’ of rates – was pushed back by a year.

Many roading projects in northern suburbs would also be postponed. ‘‘Just because it’s on the books doesn’t mean we have to do it. Local residents don’t want it, so it’s not a priority.’’

Another example of savings was money set aside for staff turnover and training because the number of council employees had decreased.