Monday council meeting to discuss rating matters

OAMARU

THE Waitaki District Council will meet on Monday to discuss proposed rates increases.

Mayor Gary Kircher said council would also discuss expenditure and projects expected over the next 10 years.

‘‘We will see what effect that all has on rates and make decisions on where cuts need to be made or projects postponed or deleted.

‘‘There is never a good time for a rate increase and it’s certainly not at the moment, However, council will be faced with numerous increases because of factors beyond our control. We need to look at the factors we can control and make cuts or changes to those.’’

Finance and corporate development group manager Paul Hope said the council’s decision to keep rates at the existing level for the 202021 year, as a Covid19 response, meant the council faced two years of budget cost pressures.

‘‘In addition to the cost increase everyone is facing, council has additional cost pressures, many coming from decisions by central government that impact council. The most significant of these is the Three Waters review programme — this programme has produced information and planning requirements that are taking a significant amount of time and money to satisfy,’’ Mr Hope said.

There was also the increased value of the council’s infrastructure to take into account, and that meant more funding needed to be designated for infrastructure when it reached ‘‘the end of its life’’.

The council was investing more money than it borrowed and would also consider whether it was appropriate to use the reserves it had accumulated.

The budget would go out for public consultation in April and any changes would take effect on July 1.