Ashburton signals 11.5% rate rise looming

Victoria Meakin Reporter from The Press

By local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:

Mid Canterbury residents are facing a possible 11.5% rate increase.
That is the figure the Ashburton District councillors landed at after two and half days of poring over the budgets for the draft long-term plan, having started with a figure of 13.75%.

“A big chunk of the increase is roading,” chief executive Hamish Riach said.

“Roading is the single biggest cost factor”

Over the next three years, the roading budget is proposed to increase by 29% ($10.7m).

The council won’t know until around May if NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi will match its proposed roading programme, and subsidise 51% of the $10.7m.

Debt servicing costs from capital works, including three waters, over the last few years is another large factor, Riach said.

Three waters, drinking, waste and storm water, work will continue to impact the budgets over the next 10 years as the council works to reach mandatory compliance standards.

The final details will be prepared, including how the 11.5% average will impact on various areas, for the next budget workshop on January 17.

There is plenty of water to go under the bridge before the LTP – which includes a new bridge and a water main under it – is locked in at the end of June.

Councillor Carolyn Cameron said she felt the signalled rise is too high.
“I think 11.5% is too much.”

Deputy Mayor Liz McMillan said councillors probably all agreed it was too high, but would struggle to find ways of cutting it back.

Mayor Neil Brown said it will be up to the ratepayers to decide if the 11.5% increase is too high.

“Let the community tell us when we consult what they don’t want.
“Where do they want us to cut.”

The councillors had been working on a rough formula that 1% equated to $470,000.

Utilising dividends and interest earned from investments, along with reserves, to the tune of $6,447,987 for 2024/25 is effectively subsiding rates by 13.7%.

Of the 11.5% increase signalled, roading, with an additional $1.8m from the council, is around 3% and the compliance works on drinking water (an extra $1.67m) and wastewater ($950,000) combine for around 5%.
Once the draft LTP is produced early next year, it will go out for public consultation in March.

Plenty for community to consider long long-term

Plenty of focus will be on the proposed 11.5% increase in the first year of the long-term plan (LTP), and there is a lot to consider further down the road.

The LTP sets the council’s work programme for the next 10 years and there are lot of big decisions to be made on the future of the district, and the cost implications.

In terms of roading, the second bridge and council’s potential $8m contribution will likely be determined by the new government's revision of transport funding policy.

The council is also planning to install a new water main across the new bridge for an estimated $4.62M.

Like the second bridge will provide resilience for transport, Riach said the second water main will do the same for the water supply. The current main goes across the existing SH1 Ashburton/Hakatere River bridge which will one day need to be replaced.

The introduction of green bins, kerbside food and green organic waste collection is planned for year three (2026/27).

One area that will garner plenty of discussion, as it did in the budget workshops, is where $3m should be spent on aquatic facilities – if at all.
A repair of the Tinwald Pool, a new outdoor pool at EA Networks Centre, a waterplay and paddling pool at the Ashburton Domain, and hydroslides at EANC were all presented as options – as was the option to do nothing.

Councillor Richard Wilson labelled the Tinwald Pool a dead duck due to the unknown extent of repairs needed matched with lifeguard resourcing issues.

Building a new outdoor pool at the centre, which would alleviates the lifeguard issue, was the preferred option by a slim majority - just ahead of doing nothing.

There was little appetite for hydroslides, while the domain water play option remains part of the Ashburton Domain 30-year plan and could still go ahead in the future.

All five options will be up for debate through the consultation process.
An extension to the aquatic side of the centre, estimated at $22m, was ruled out of the LTP.

A $21m extension to the centre's stadium, which would add three courts and additional car parking, has been included from year five (2028/29).
The Art Gallery and Heritage Centre is almost 10 years old and requires ‘significant renewals’ in the LTP, which include new lighting, a reconfiguration of the shop and reception, and a $2.5m refresh of the museum display around 2028/29.

The community will also be asked to consider the future of Balmoral Hall.

There was $480,000 budgeted for repairs, but Riach said it is “woefully inadequate”.

The actual cost is estimated to be around $1.4m, which the councillors felt was too much and will instead look to divest the building.