Source: Radio New Zealand
Selwyn mayor Lydia Glddon. ANNA SAREGNT / RNZ
Canterbury’s Selwyn District Council is mulling staff cuts and a recruitment freeze as councillors examine ways to keep this year’s rates rise down.
Councillors agreed on Wednesday to consult the public on an average rates increase of 5.4 per cent, with options of 4.9 per cent and 6.5 per cent also on the table in the draft annual plan.
While the proposed increases were less than half of last year’s 14.2 per cent hike, they excluded water charges and resulted in trade-offs.
The council had carved out savings in the draft plan by shifting some costs from general rates to user-pays, which could mean increased building consent costs, aquatic and fitness class fees and dog registration fees for ratepayers.
Selwyn mayor Lydia Gliddon said there were also savings to be made in-house, which could result in staff cuts.
“There’s a lot that we’re going to do internally and we need staff to quantify some of this stuff. At the moment we look at like a hiring freeze and actually do we need all of these roles, what are the core roles that we need to deliver core function of council and what are the ones that we don’t need and how do we lower our consultancy spend along side that as well,” she said.
“There are 75 open roles out at the moment, if we don’t need those roles we shouldn’t be recruiting for them.”
Total staff costs came to $47.3 million in the last financial year, compared to $32.7m in the 2022/23 financial year.
The draft plan said the lowest 4.9 per cent rates rise option could be achieved by significantly reducing recruitment at the council for the next year, removing some roles from budgets and significantly reducing consultant costs.
It was not recommended by staff, who said it could affect the council’s ability to meet its legal obligations and deliver services.
Gliddon said the 4.9 percent increase was yet to be fully modelled by the council.
“You’ve got to weigh up the risk. We can’t risk not delivering the level of service our community expects but we can’t charge the level of rates that we have been,” she said.
Gliddon believed general rates were subsidising some fees and charges more than they should.
“I think the user-pays is actually a better situation than the general rate having to offset at the rate that it is,” she said.
“I don’t think necessarily it’s fair if someone isn’t using something, they shouldn’t be paying or subsidising the full amount of it. It is a really fine line because you want to enable success of say facilities because there is a general good will in those and we want people to be using the space, and they’re paying a targeted rate for it, but it’s a bigger broader conversation and we need to figure this out with our community.”
The council would have to reduce its library programmes and exhibitions to achieve the 5.4 per cent increase.
The draft plan included investments in roading upgrades and maintenance, Lincoln’s town centre, replacement of the Whitecliffs bridge and remediation of the Leeston Medical Centre.
Gliddon said roading was one of the biggest infrastructure pressures the district was facing because it remained the fastest growing area in the country.
The council was predicting $213.6m in revenue during the next financial year, while it would spend $196.5m on operating expenses and $86m on capital infrastructure.
Gliddon said Selwyn’s rapid growth provided both an opportunity and a challenge for the council.
“We have national policy statements we’ve got to abide by providing 30 years worth of land for housing, that’s a lot when you’re a fast growing district. What we’re trying to do is try and release some of the burden from the general ratepayer having to subsidise growth because we know that’s not fair,” she said.
“We’re hoping that the development levy reform will come out and help us recover some of that.”
The council was in the process of recruiting a permanent chief executive after the resignation of Sharon Mason in December.
“We’ve appointed Sheffield as our recruitment agency. We’ve got a process to take place over the coming months. Ideally we’d like to have a permanent chief executive employed to go through the long term plan,” Gliddon said.
Public consultation on Selwyn’s draft annual plan opens on Monday.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
