The Whakatāne District Mayor and Councillors have asked staff to prepare an Annual Plan budget that reduces the rates increase for the 2025/26 year by a percentage and applies savings to reduce Council’s operating deficit faster.
The 2025/26 Annual Plan is the second year of the Council’s approved 10-year Long Term Plan which forecasted an average 12.7% annual rates increase.
At yesterday’s (Wednesday, 19 February 2025) Council briefing, staff delivered a draft budget following direction prior to Christmas to find potential savings and split them between a lower rates levy and debt reduction.
A number of factors contributed to the savings including, pausing or rephasing some work programmes and setting a zero target for new Full Time Equivalent (FTE) roles for Year 2. Some aspects of the roading budget no longer would be spent because subsidy has been withdrawn by NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi.
At the briefing, Councillors discussed the option to allocate more of the savings to reduce the operating deficit faster, before instructing staff to proceed with preparing the final budget based on an average rates increase of 11.7%, instead of 12.7%, for 2025/26. The remaining identified savings will be used to fund the operating deficit.
Councillors also opted not to undertake a full consultative process for this year’s Annual Plan, based on it not being a legislative requirement for Year 2 of a Long Term Plan, and because the variations to the Long Term plan were not significant in terms of change to levels of service. There will however be information shared with communities to explain how the rates were set and what that means for households.
Council will debate the proposed budget at its Council meeting on 20 March 2025. The Annual Plan is due for adoption in June 2025.