Council adopts 2024/25 Annual Plan
Gore District ratepayers will receive a district-wide average rate increase of 21.4% in the coming financial year despite the Council cutting $2.38m from initial budgets.
The Council had started its 2024/25 budget conversation with a 31.7% rates increase, much of that due to depreciation and unavoidable cost increases.
The cost increases were in areas such as:
- insurance,
- interest rates,
- compliance costs,
- construction costs,
- materials and chemicals,
- the reintroduction of kerbside recycling,
- IT projects, and
- salary costs to ensure the Council was competitive in a tight labour market.
However, a robust analysis of budgets and a decision not to fully fund depreciation resulted in significant cost savings and the final 21.4% increase.
Gore District Mayor Ben Bell said councils across New Zealand were in the same boat of dealing with broken funding and finance models while delivering the essentials – clean, safe drinking water, sustainable waste practices and good roading - to ratepayers.
“It is our responsibility to ensure we maintain the levels of service our community expects and deserves from us.”
Mr Bell said a comprehensive review of service levels would be undertaken as part of the long term plan.
Chief Executive Debbie Lascelles said the Council had exhausted its ability to find significant savings without compromising services.
“We will need to have transparent discussions with our community around what services it is willing to fund.”
Not funding 20% to 35% depreciation achieved the most significant cost decrease.
“Depreciation is the tool we use to pay down debt … unfunded depreciation means people pay lower rates but leaves us (the Council) in a worse position.”
Ms Lascelles said savings were found through cutting staff budgets, delaying the reintroduction of recycling, deferring property maintenance and IT projects, and changing some services and programmes.
She said that adopting the 2024/25 Annual Plan was a significant step in the right direction.
“However, the real work now begins as we prepare for the 2025-34 Long Term Plan and consider rates affordability over the longer term.”
The impact of the 21.4% district-wide average rates increase across the Council’s rating areas is:
Residential
- Medium value Gore home (CV $450,000) - rates increase $810 a year, $15.58 a week
- Medium value Mataura home (CV $350,000) - rates increase $741 a year, $14.25 a week
Commerical
- Medium value Gore business (CV $1.32m) - rates increase $1,312 a year, $25.23 a week
- Medium value Mataura business (CV $295,000) - rates increase $174 a year, $3.35 a week
Rural
- Medium value lifestyle unit (CV $950,000) - rates increase $388 a year, $7.46 a week
- Farm (CV $5.73m) - rates increase $1,538 a year, $29.58 a week
- Farm (CV $10.2m) - rates increase $2,874 a year, $55.27 a week
The 2024/25 Annual Plan is available on the Council’s website www.goredc.govt.nz