New government stats reveal how much councils are spending
Photo:
RNZ / Angus Dreaver
The government has published new performance metrics revealing how much councils are spending as it continues to ramp up the pressure on local bodies.
But Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) says the information only tells part of the story and should also include what councils are delivering for the money spent.
The first set of "council profiles" draw on data to gauge financial performance.
In a statement, Local Government Minister Simon Watts said the cost of living was the biggest worry for households and councils needed to show they were
spending ratepayers' money wisely
.
"Ratepayers place immense trust in their local councils who make key decisions on local infrastructure, fiscal management, and how their community operates on a day-to-day basis on their behalf." he said.
The figures show information on council demographics like population and land area, rates revenue, council debt, staffing numbers, how much councils spend and what they spend it on.
Watts said people were getting fed up with rate rises and it was important they saw how their council was performing.
"That's why the government is putting clear facts and figures directly into the hands of ratepayers. When ratepayers know more about how their council is performing and where their money is going, they can engage more effectively and ask the tough questions.
"For instance, communities can now compare how much their council spends on core essentials like infrastructure and see whether their rates are going up more than average." he said.
Council are grouped together with similar councils and then benchmarked on their performace.
"Releasing these performance metrics aligns with our commitment to lifting the performance of local government. It is an opportunity for councils that are focused on their core functions to highlight their efficiency and value to their communities." Watts said.
The government was "actively exploring" a
rates capping system
, he said. "Given the current pressures on households, the degree of rates increases is a massive worry."
While the first release information covers financial performance, subsequent releases will cover metrics like asset management, service delivery, and governance
In a statement, LGNZ Vice President Campbell Barry said the metrics were a good starting point for councils to engage with their communities, which always supported transparency and benchmarking.
"The profiles detail council expenditure, but they don't show what the community gets for this investment or whether that investment has been supported by the community," he said.
"At the moment, the metrics only provide part of the story. For example, is that council investing in key infrastructure to support future growth or make up for past underinvestment, has it been exposed to particular cost pressures or weather events, or is it at a particular point in an investment cycle?"
Barry said local context was important.
"We encourage people to also look at councils' pre-election reports - which provide a snapshot of council performance and value as well as unique challenges and opportunities - alongside the profiles, to get a fuller picture." he said.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero
,
a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scoop
7 hours ago
- Scoop
Land Reforms Aim To End Stalled Development In Papua New Guinea
Article – RNZ New legislation introduced by PNG's Deputy Prime Minister John Rosso would reform six land-related laws and which he says are essential., RNZ Pacific Senior Journalist Reforms to land laws in Papua New Guinea should ensure that landowners have more control over their land. New legislation introduced by the country's Deputy Prime Minister John Rosso would reform six land-related laws. Rosso says the changes are essential to securing the country's future and safeguarding the rights of landowners. Prime Minister James Marape commended Rosso for spearheading the reforms. 'Land is our people's greatest inheritance-our playground, our home, our heritage. Every Papua New Guinean is connected to a piece of land somewhere in this country. We must protect it,' Marape told parliament. RNZ Pacific spoke with its PNG correspondent Scott Waide about the government's motivations for the changes. (This transcript has been edited for brevity and clarity.) Scott Waide: The Lands Department has been, for want of a better word, terminally ill, for many years. It has had legislation that dates back to the colonial era. Papua New Guinea has moved on [and] moved forward with a lot of things. But the [land] legislations have been a hindering mechanism for any form of large scale development, like farming [and] real estate development. Those laws have been a hindrance to much of that development, and also the mobilisation of customary land. Previously, with the old laws, customary landowners could not adequately mobilise and get loans to develop their land, because the laws [and banks] did not recognise customary land ownership, and the accompanying attempts to allow for that development of customary land. It has posed a lot of complications in terms of mining development, logging [and] farming. The changes that have been introduced allow for both protection of customary landowners and the possibility of them venturing into large scale businesses. Don Wiseman: It has being brought in by the Deputy Prime Minister John Rosso. What specifically is he going to do? You have outlined the issues that have existed over land for a long time, but are they going to be overcome with this new legislation? SW: Yes, many of the problems that have existed for many, many years – from a very, very old system, a manual system, when the rest of the world is operating digitally. We have had instances where they have been dual titles issued, issued titles over land that have gone missing, because people are reproducing those titles manually. There is an electronic system that has been introduced as well within the Lands Department, and that is meant to reduce the instances of corruption that have long existed. A lot of the reforms have happened very quietly within the Lands Department. The other reforms that complement the development of housing, which is a big need in Papua New Guinea, support the development of customary land as well. So customary land owners can partner with government or with private organisations and develop housing, cheap housing for other Papua New Guineans. DW: Prime Minister James Marape says this will save the land that is still held, but it is clearly not going to undo a lot of the mistakes from the past, and they have been so many of those, particularly to do with the forestry and so on. SW: Yes, that is a an issue that I have spoken to a few land experts as well around. And that is going to be a huge challenge to undo all of that. The other side to it is that there are customary landowners who also sell their own land for cash. The legislations that have been put in place, in the some of the policies have actually banned the sale of customary land to individual parties as well. So, it offers some level of protection for customary land owners. There needs to be a lot of awareness as well for customary landowners to understand how the law benefits them, and that is going to also take a while.
NZ Herald
10 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Tūwharetoa disappointed as Taupō District Council delays water agreement
The draft Joint Management Agreement aims to protect the water of Lake Taupō (Taupō Moana) (pictured) and the Upper Waikato River. Photo / RNZ, Libby Kirkby-McLeod Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech. The draft Joint Management Agreement aims to protect the water of Lake Taupō (Taupō Moana) (pictured) and the Upper Waikato River. Photo / RNZ, Libby Kirkby-McLeod By Pokere Paewai of RNZ The Tūwharetoa Māori Trust Board says it is disappointed the Taupō District Council has chosen to draw out the process for its joint water management agreement with the iwi by deferring it to the next council. Councillors voted on Thursday to defer discussion of the draft Joint Management Agreement (JMA) until the next local government elections are held in October, after concerns over a lack of public consultation on the agreement were raised. The purpose of the draft JMA is to protect the water of Lake Taupō (Taupō Moana) and the Upper Waikato River. It would see the council and Tūwharetoa Māori Trust Board collaborate on work such as monitoring and enforcement, district plan reviews, resource consent application assessments and enabling customary activities. The council has legal obligations to form agreements with Waikato River iwi trusts under the Waikato River Act 2010.
NZ Herald
11 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Uncontested seats raise concerns for local democracy and voter engagement
'What is the payoff? Because you're potentially going to be subject to abuse and quite a lot of pressure.' Duncan said it could also be influenced by a lack of public interest in local affairs, driven by a decline in local media. 'We don't get those little, local suburban newspapers in our letterboxes anymore perhaps and so I think people are just following local affairs less carefully. That has a flow-on affect on people's interest in being candidates or to turn out to vote.' A lack of candidates also meant voters were generally less engaged. 'We're in a vicious cycle of a lack of local news, a lack of voter participation ... and also a decline in candidates willing to put their names forward, and if we don't have all of those things working together, we have an inexorable decline in local democracy,' Duncan said. 'Increasingly, what will happen is that central government will just say, 'Well, we'll take control'.' Hutt South MP Chris Bishop posted on Facebook about the lack of contested local body seats. Photo / RNZ, Mark Papalii According to The Spinoff, in 2022, 20% of the 583 elections were uncontested. National minister and local MP for Hutt South Chris Bishop posted on Facebook following the close of nominations. 'Five councillors have been elected unopposed already in the Lower Hutt local elections. Nobody is standing against them and the law doesn't provide for a 'no confidence' option, so they're automatically elected. 'On top of this, all of the Eastbourne Community Board have been elected unopposed (five slots, five people). I have to say, I find this fairly remarkable and depressing.' A shortage of candidates was not the case across the board. In Hamilton, former Labour MPs Sue Moroney and Jamie Strange will run among a field of 26 candidates in the Hamilton East ward alone, including former National MP Tim Macindoe, who was also standing for mayor. In total, 51 candidates are vying for a place on the council, including 12 for mayor. – RNZ
