Gore rates rise forecast at 2.84pc
The Gore District Council is proposing a rates increase of 2.84 per cent after trimming some budgets in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Travel, accommodation and library book budgets have been reduced, but the council still plans to appoint a community strategy manager, and fund the employment of a part-time Tussock Country Festival co-ordinator, a memo from chief executive Steve Parry says.
The memo will be tabled at an extraordinary council meeting, which will be held online tomorrow night.
Parry’s report says the preparation of the council budget for 2020/21 has been a challenging exercise. The council has had to deal with the disruption and destruction of the Southland floods in early February and the Covid-19 pandemic, which caused severe restrictions on the economy and council operations.
The council’s Long Term Plan forecast a district-wide rates increase in 2020/21 of 4.53 per cent. Before the country moved to alert level 4 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic on March 25, the council was grappling with a proposed rate increase of 6.7 per cent, the report says.
Senior council staff found savings, which would have reduced the rates increase to 2.64 per cent, including reviewing plant and vehicle additions, and adjusting the aquatic centre and stadium’s revenue, and expenditure budgets.
The Mataura Licencing Trust has advised the council that it was unable to meet its commitment to contribute 25 per cent of the operating loss of the MLT Events Centre, and the impact of that decision will mean the rates requirement of the council will now lift to 2.84 per cent, the report says.
Further reductions could be achieved, but they would be ‘‘at the expense of service levels or organisational capacity’’, Parry says in the report.
‘‘For example, the appointment of a Community Strategy Manager and funding to employ a part-time Tussock Country Festival co-ordinator have been included in this budget in response to council and community desire for more resources in these areas,’’ the report says.
‘‘Arguably, a Community Strategy Manager is now more important for the council in how it assists the community to recover from economic and social turmoil thrown up by Covid19.’’