Where we're at right now
Our district is in a strong position. People want to live, work and play here and our communities are vibrant and passionate about their place.
Despite this, we are in tight economic times and everyone, including Council, is feeling the pain.
We are committed to providing the core services we are required to, making sure the district’s assets are well-maintained and investing in growth and housing.
There is some critical work that we need to do over the next few years to keep up with new water rules; and it is going to cost a lot of money.
Three waters (wastewater, drinking water and stormwater) are staying with councils and now we have to figure out what’s required under Central Government’s new water policy, Local Water Done Well.
Our communities expect more and more from Council and we are receiving growing requests for support from across our district. But at the same time, people are calling for rates to remain stable. While we’d love to crack on with some projects, many will need to wait.
The future of council water services
After years of central government telling us they were taking water services off councils, we now have new government policy which keeps water services with councils, provided we can prove that it is financially sustainable.
It is clear in this draft Long-term Plan that water services are a significant driver of both rates and debt pressures and these pressures have been felt across the local government sector. These increased pressures, along with the new legislation from central government’s Local Water Done Well Plan, will require Council to review options for its Three Waters services delivery during this 10-year period, however any impact from this is presently unknown. We are having discussions with neighbouring councils to assess whether there might be benefits to working together. Any proposed options will need to be carefully considered by Council, iwi, and the community. At this point we expect water, wastewater and stormwater services to remain with Taupō District Council, and we will work to provide quality services as efficiently as possible.
The first few years of this Long-term Plan focus on ensuring our drinking water assets are up to requirements set by the government’s water regulator Taumata Arowai. This is driving large increases in our capital programme.*
*Council spending is divided into two types: capital and operating.
- Capital spending is money spent on new council assets (or to renew existing assets).
- Operating spending is money spent to keep things running day to day.
So for example, a new mower for our reserves would be paid for by capital spending but the cost of keeping it running (fuel, repairs and maintenance, insurance, depreciation) would come from operating spending.
