Council’s decision last week to adopt the 495-page plan setting out our priorities and budgets for the next decade is a key milestone. It was the most difficult plan to put together in decades with costs going through the roof, tens of millions required to fix storm damage and the new Government changing policy in areas such as water midway through the process.
The unanimous vote was remarkable. Many Councils around the country have fractured and others have delayed. Our Nelson Council last term was quite divided. There are diverse views around the current Council table and priorities were strongly debated. Consensus was achieved with goodwill, teamwork and a final plan that had input from all.
Council settled on an average 8.2% rate rise for 2024-25 and a $300 levy to meet the costs of the storm recovery. The rate increase is lower than most Councils but we also know it will be tough on households and businesses when the rate demands go out on 25 July.
The storm repair costs are unavoidable after the August ’22 deluge – the worst natural disaster to hit Nelson in 50 years. We have secured $26.3 million in support from Government without which the levy would need to be $440 per household. We accept the $300 is a hard pill to swallow but we had to rebuild the city. We are responsibly building back better.
The single biggest driver of the rate increase is infrastructure. Council plans to spend $523m on wastewater, drinking water, stormwater and flood protection, and a further $303m on transport infrastructure over the next decade. This equates to $36,000 per household.
It is false economy to skimp on infrastructure – that is why the Wellington Council is in a such difficulty. However, we do need to work with Government and contractors to get soaring construction costs under control. The costs of traffic management, dealing with construction waste and consenting are making this bill bigger than it should be.
It is good to have this plan sorted but we owe it to financially squeezed ratepayers to be always looking further for efficiencies and savings.
