Ashburton District Councillors have been progressing work on the Long Term Plan 2027-37, including the draft financial strategy that will guide how they make budget decisions for the next 10 years.

Group Manager of Business Support Helen Barnes says that Council’s finances are now being prepared in line with the Government’s proposed rates capping legislation.

“Council is preparing to lower the rates rise to between two and four per cent by 2030 when the cap on rates rises will be applied to all of Council services except three waters.

“Rates increases for Water, Wastewater and Stormwater will not have a cap applied, instead pricing will be monitored for customer fairness by the Commerce Commission.”

Last year, the non-waters rates rise was 5.43%, while waters increased by 13.05%.

Helen says that councillors have agreed to the principles that they will work to when setting budgets and this will be documented in their draft financial strategy.

The three principles councillors ranked in order were; affordability, prudence and intergenerational equity.

“Affordability means keeping rates increases as manageable as possible for ratepayers, while still funding the services and assets the district needs.

“Prudence is about making careful financial decisions now so Council is better prepared for future costs, including the replacement of important assets.

“Intergenerational equity is around how we are share costs between the people who use services and assets now, and those who will benefit from them in the future.”

The financial strategy sets guardrails, such as limits on rates increases, borrowing capacity, resilience in case of a natural disaster, and how Council sets aside money to replace old or damaged assets in the future.

The strategy will continue to be developed as part of the Long Term Plan process, alongside the Revenue and Financing Policy (RFP).

Helen says that the RFP sets out which funding tools are used for each Council activity, and why.

“Not everything is, or should be, funded by rates alone.

“Councils can use a mix of funding sources, including rates, fees and charges, development contributions, grants, borrowing and investment income.”

Long Term Plan workshops are livestreamed on Council’s Facebook andYouTube channels.