The cost of building the road to connect Ashburton’s second bridge looms large in the next annual plan – and the potential rates impact it comes with.
But it’s the waters reform that is guaranteed to have a significant hit.
The long-term plan had forecast an 11 per cent rate increase next year, but that doesn’t even cover the increased cost of delivering waters services.
At a three waters committee meeting last week, council chief executive Hamish Riach explained how Ashburton’s water services delivery plan and its increased costs would slot straight into the annual plan.
“We are regarding the annual plan for water as already done.”
Ashburton’s internal business unit, under the Government’s Water Done Well reforms, was signed off by the Department of Internal Affairs on October 20.
The plan sets out how the council intends to provide water services for its communities, while meeting new national water quality and Commerce Commission requirements.
The projected average charge over the period 2024-34 increases from $1441 in 2024/25 to $2948 in 2033/34, an average increase of 10.5 per cent per year.
Riach said there will be differences between the long-term plan projections and the annual plan that is now being prepared using the water plan.
“For the charges for the three waters services, there is a 12 per cent increase in those charges already approved by council and accepted by the Government.
“That’s the commitment that we have given the Government in order to deliver three waters services in the structure that has been adopted, so the annual plan needs to reflect this.”
Deputy Mayor Richard Wilson wanted to ensure it will be clearly explained to the community the “significance difference” was driven by the reforms. “We have been forced into doing it rather than by choice.”
Riach said the community had involvement in developing the water services plan through the consultation process.
Councillor Russell Ellis acknowledged it is going to be a difficult budget.
“As well as working to year three of the LTP, we’ve had a lot of government changes that are going to alter that budget totally out of our control.”
At the audit, risk, and finance committee later that afternoon, the councillors received the timeline for the annual plan, including consultation options.
Committee chairperson Carolyn Cameron said she is concerned the final figure for the new bridge road, “which it will be markedly greater than what we’ve got in budget”.
The council maintained the $7.5m figure in its long-term plan (LTP) budgets.
Riach said the previous council had committed to consulting the community on how to fund the new road and how it would impact ratepayers which the new council would have to factor that into its decisions. The issue will be timing, he said.
“Whether or not we’ll be far enough through that project for it to have an impact on the annual plan 26/27, or whether or not the impact won’t be actually felt for ratepayers until year one of the of the LTP.”
Community and open spaces general manager Toni Durham said consulting on the annual plan will depend on “if there is any significant change to a work programme that is different to what we had said we were going to do with the community.
The budget may not be too fundamentally different, but council may still actually want to take the opportunity to have the conversation with the community.”
Riach underlined that “the decision to consult is council’s”.
