This is how much it costs to run the city, per resident
How much does it cost to run a city? $5.60 per resident per day, according to Hamilton City Council.
The council has released the breakdown of costs for on the back of the proposed 19.9% rate rises. On average, Hamiltonians would have to pay about $10.90 more towards rates every week. But the rate rises would keep coming, with the city projecting rises of 15.5% for the four years following.
Councillors also backed a move to slash staff and contractor numbers over the next decade to keep rate increases down.
At $5.60 per day, the cost per resident per year comes to $2044.
However, from July the cost per day will increase to $6.80, bringing the annual total to $2482.
The bulk of the current $5.60 goes towards water management ($1.67) and transport ($1.37) while the rest is made up by things like parks and recreations, community services and rubbish and recycling.
On its website, council said it had heard from residents that the proposed rates increased in the draft Long Term Plan budget “puts too high a cost on Hamiltonians”.
“Elected members are proposing to cut or reduce services from 2025, in an effort to reduce these everyday costs for our community. On March 19, we'll ask for your feedback on what services we could stop or reduce, to make savings in future years of the Long-Term Plan.”
Just as the cost of groceries and keeping the power on, so have the everyday costs of running a city, the council wrote.
“This year, with inflation, higher interest rates, new Government regulations, and depreciation, the cost is $6.80 per resident, per day to deliver the exact same council services.”
It also pointed to rates for the median home in being lower than in other major cities and neighbour councils.
“The median home in Hamilton Kirikiriroa has a capital value of $830,000 and pays rates of $2838 this year. This is around $800 less on average than the other councils we looked at.
“Our rates need to catch up with the costs of running a big and growing city.”
The full $5.60 breakdown:
$1.67 water management, $1.37 transport, $0.35 visitor destinations, $0.58 venues, tourism and events, $0.54 parks and recreation, $0.45 community services, $0.30 growth, $0.13 safety, $0.16 rubbish and recycling, $0.05 governance.