An update of our recent Quarterly Meeting with the Management Team at the NPDC.

This is an update of our recent Quarterly Meeting with the Management Team at the NPDC.

We can provide some good news to Ratepayers and Renters. The NPDC staff are fully focused on reducing costs and increasing efficiencies. Every department across the NPDC have been involved in discussions and proposals.

• We want to acknowledge that most of the people who were voted in last year have listened to the community, and particularly the ratepayers who are struggling to pay the increased rates bills, and they have sent a very strong message to the staff that costs must come down.

Nothing has been set in stone at this stage, but Senior Staff have been asked to work on plans for a 2% rates increase next year, or a 5% rates increase next year.

• Yes, we know there will be people saying yeah right ! Where was the 4.9% increase this year in my rates ? Which of course is an issue on our radar with any increases next year.

• We also know – people will be saying we don’t want an increase – we want our rates to come down. Even with all the will in the world from the elected officials who want to bring costs down right now, there is a very big reason they can’t do everything straight away.

The biggest reason is it is hard to adjust expenditure after an election because the Long Term Plan that is running from the last set of elected officials is still running – and contracts that have already been signed – they are a legal contract with penalty clauses for cancellations – so the projects can’t just be stopped as soon as new people are voted in.

But – the good news with that – is any parts of projects which do not have a signed contract – the scope and costs are being carefully looked at now.

And other good news, there is a Project Governance Board at the Council and the criteria they follow has changed with the new elected officials in place. Senior Management sit on this Board too, but if any projects/activities are over budget, or outcomes are different to the original scope, the decisions about what happens next comes back to the elected officials to decide. In the previous term budgets often just expanded, and debt was increased to cover the extra costs.

• It is harder to change budgets, or scopes of projects, now the Project Governance Board criteria has been changed.
• There is also a strong focus on managing any extra costs without adding to debt levels.

Of course, there are complications with that. We asked about the Waitara Walkway project costs. NZTA is providing some funds for that and a business case was prepared for the NZTA, for them to agree to give money to this project. NZTA have quite expensive tastes, and a lot of rules, of how things must be developed. So, stages 2 and 3 of the Waitara Walkway are being looked at for where costs can be trimmed, but what is put in place must fit with outcomes agreed to for NZTA in their original business case, or they may withdraw the funding.

Having followed how NZTA is now involved at our local council level over the last few years, we’re not a huge fan of being beholden to rules of a government organisation which makes projects a lot more expensive than they could be. A simple version could be funded locally without all the fish hooks. And of course, NZTA is paid using taxpayer income, yet the Government Department tells us how they will spend our tax money.

But, the NPDC Management Team do mention to us that NZTA provides a lot of financial input for New Plymouth roads, and relationships need to be maintained.

Talking about those relationships we were told about the Regional Transport Plan which is prepared every 3 years between the NPDC and NZTA. This provides about 51% of the funds for our roads.

A few years ago, people may remember, footpaths were quite a topic of conversation with a lot of potholes and issues. A lot of people were complaining to the NPDC at the time. It was mentioned in this meeting that the funding 2 rounds ago had no funding for footpaths included, which created this issue. This is what is meant with the relationship comments.

The biggest thing on our radar over the next 6 months is the 2027 to 2037 Long Term Plan (LTP). As we keep saying – this document gives the NPDC permission – or not – on how they can spend YOUR rates income.

The staff are working on all the areas to be considered for the next LTP. They have looked at all projects, all stages of projects, all the assets owned by the NPDC, maintenance and depreciation of those assets, and everything in the current LTP.

They have put together scenarios, and how this all adds up, for the total amount of rates income needed. They are currently running in house sessions with staff challenging assumptions that have been made, and changing assumptions as needed.

This will be presented to the elected officials so they can prepare for how they will vote on the consultation document that goes out for the LTP (effectively what will go in the LTP for the community to consult on). Timing with the elected officials will be late this year and the consultation will come out to the community around February/March 2027.

One other thing which will be coming out for consultation will be the amalgamation of councils – the current coalition Government – Future of Local Government Plans. This is likely to be in and around the timing of the LTP next year.

We’ve been working on getting open text boxes into consultations for a reason. These boxes will give you options to say NO to things in the Long Term Plan, if you want to do that next year.