Latest news with #AndrewTripe
Scoop
2 days ago
- Business
- Scoop
How Whanganui Achieved Lowest Rates In The Country
Whanganui's average rates increase of 2.2 percent for the year ahead is the lowest in the country. Mayor Andrew Tripe says the low figure is the envy of the country and the payoff in a sustained drive to adjust how the council operates. "[It] didn't happen by accident - it's the result of a deliberate strategy to keep costs under control," Tripe said. "Many of the savings are structural and will flow through to future years. We expect there will be opportunities to reduce the 2026/27 rates increase as well." In a survey by Local Democracy Reporting on average rates for 2025/26 throughout the country, Waitomo District Council had the next lowest rates at 2.9 percent, and Bay of Plenty Regional Council was third lowest in the country at 3.0 percent. Five councils - Upper Hutt City, Waipa District, Hamilton City, Hastings District and Clutha District - were looking at jumps of 15-17 percent. The average rates hike is about 8.7 percent, compared with last year's 14 percent. In his first tilt at local government in 2022, Tripe's successful campaign for the mayoralty included driving efficiencies to reduce the rates burden. A six-point plan was developed early in the electoral term to reduce costs and ease reliance on rates. As well as improving efficiency, the plan looked at reducing services, finding alternative funding for projects, identifying non-rates sources of revenue, and growing the population so there were more households to pitch in on rates. "The plan has taken a while to get some traction, however the benefits of that approach are now starting to show," Tripe said. The savings drive led to works and services being deferred, scaled back or cut but Tripe said investment in infrastructure had been prioritised. Variations to the long-term plan included Tripe's push to ditch a planned food scrap collection, reducing rates by $1 million or about 1.5 percent, he said. Council restructuring saved $1.2m a year. Deferrals Deferrals included pushing out by a year a $1m grant for Whanganui Surf Lifesaving Service's rescue centre. The project was not at the stage where funding was needed, Tripe said. An $8m of planned spending on an opera house upgrade was delayed to await a business case. The Waitahinga Quarry development project was deferred while the council focused on other projects, and all council vehicle replacements have been deferred for the year. A planned full review of the district plan has also been deferred, saving $700,000. Tripe said the council was no longer required to conduct a full review of the plan following central government's decision to make changes to the Resource Management Act. Non-rates income was expected to increase by almost 20 percent in the year ahead. "We are expecting higher fee revenue in some activities such as parking and aquatics. "We have moderated our property renewals budget down for affordability and to ensure we can deliver the planned programme. "Three waters capital programmes have been moderated to ensure that they are deliverable in the 2025/26 financial year." The council had also made minor reductions to venues improvement budgets and optimised corporate budgets for items like IT hardware replacements. It was committed to "investing solidly" in core infrastructure, with more than 80 percent of capital spending earmarked over the next 10 years for the likes of footpaths, roading, and stormwater. There was also an 11 percent increase in infrastructure spending from 2024/25. The council also tightened spending on insurance cover by taking a risk-based approach on property and removing some assets from its insurance schedule. Unbalanced budget The council has forecast an unbalanced budget of $5.5 million for 2025/26 due to increased depreciation costs from inflation and large new assets like the redeveloped Sarjeant Gallery and wastewater treatment plant. "While we are repaying debt on these long-life assets, we believe it's not fair for current ratepayers to also fund future replacements. Running an unbalanced budget is prudent in the short-term." Tripe said the council's balance sheet was strong, debt was under control and additional repayments were being made to loans. Asked how these decisions would affect long-term planning, Tripe said the council was looking beyond the short-term and planning for the future. "We're creating a strategy for Whanganui with five goals: to grow, build for, protect, celebrate and activate Whanganui." This included plans to establish a standalone entity to improve housing stock and allocating an extra $590,000 toward debt repayment, on top of existing repayments. Paying down debt more quickly would benefit future generations, Tripe said. "This equates to 0.7 percent of the 2.2 percent average rates increase." Asked if he was confident the council was investing adequately in the district's future, Tripe said Whanganui was faring well in a difficult national economy. "We should be excited about our future. Whanganui has a fantastic range of facilities for our community and the council is committed to maintaining these and ensuring that the infrastructure is in place for Whanganui to continue to be a great place to live, work and visit."
RNZ News
2 days ago
- Business
- RNZ News
Whanganui mayor's advice after achieving lowest rates rise in New Zealand
Andrew Tripe. Photo: RNZ / Robin Martin Stop making excuses and come up with a solid plan - that's the advice from Whanganui mayor after the city achieved the lowest rates rise in the country . Whanganui's average rates increase is 2.2 percent for the year ahead. Mayor Andrew Tripe said the low figure was the envy of the country - which has had an increase of about 8.7 percent on average. He told Morning Report the council "went hard and went early". "Early on in my morality I realised that things were going to get tough... alongside my chief executive, I sent him away to put together a five point plan, he came back with a six point plan to find cost savings and efficiency, so we went hard and went early on this - it's no fluke." Tripe said cutting food scrape collections saved Whanganui 1.1 percent on rates. "The majority of our community - over 60 percent - said they didn't want the food scrapes, they are already doing it anyway. As soon as the government said no I pounced on that and we made a decision to cut the foodscrape collection. "I think that was very very well received by our community actually, contrary to what one person might being saying." He said the council had not only kept up all core services, but had increased infrastructure spending by 11 percent compared with last year. "All we have done is been more efficient with what we've got - doing more with less." Tripe reiterated that cost saving cuts - apart from a minor change to a libraries opening hours - were not made to council facilities. He said his advice to other councils was to stop making excuses and come up with a solid plan. "I've got a saying - no result plus a good excuse equals no result. For me don't make excuses, get on with it and put a very very solid plan together. "We put the six point plan together and that has attributed to our rates rise of 2.2 percent this year," he said. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
3 days ago
- Business
- RNZ News
How Whanganui achieved lowest rates in the country
Whanganui mayor Andrew Tripe says the council is looking beyond the short-term and planning for the future. Photo: LDR / Moana Ellis Whanganui's average rates increase of 2.2 percent for the year ahead is the lowest in the country. Mayor Andrew Tripe says the low figure is the envy of the country and the payoff in a sustained drive to adjust how the council operates. "[It] didn't happen by accident - it's the result of a deliberate strategy to keep costs under control," Tripe said. "Many of the savings are structural and will flow through to future years. We expect there will be opportunities to reduce the 2026/27 rates increase as well." In a survey by Local Democracy Reporting on average rates for 2025/26 throughout the country, Waitomo District Council had the next lowest rates at 2.9 percent, and Bay of Plenty Regional Council was third lowest in the country at 3.0 percent. Five councils - Upper Hutt City, Waipa District, Hamilton City, Hastings District and Clutha District - were looking at jumps of 15-17 percent. The average rates hike is about 8.7 percent, compared with last year's 14 percent. In his first tilt at local government in 2022, Tripe's successful campaign for the mayoralty included driving efficiencies to reduce the rates burden. A six-point plan was developed early in the electoral term to reduce costs and ease reliance on rates. As well as improving efficiency, the plan looked at reducing services, finding alternative funding for projects, identifying non-rates sources of revenue, and growing the population so there were more households to pitch in on rates. "The plan has taken a while to get some traction, however the benefits of that approach are now starting to show," Tripe said. The savings drive led to works and services being deferred, scaled back or cut but Tripe said investment in infrastructure had been prioritised. Variations to the long-term plan included Tripe's push to ditch a planned food scrap collection, reducing rates by $1 million or about 1.5 percent, he said. Council restructuring saved $1.2m a year. Whanganui mayor Andrew Tripe. Photo: Aka Creative Deferrals included pushing out by a year a $1m grant for Whanganui Surf Lifesaving Service's rescue centre. The project was not at the stage where funding was needed, Tripe said. An $8m of planned spending on an opera house upgrade was delayed to await a business case. The Waitahinga Quarry development project was deferred while the council focused on other projects, and all council vehicle replacements have been deferred for the year. A planned full review of the district plan has also been deferred, saving $700,000. Tripe said the council was no longer required to conduct a full review of the plan following central government's decision to make changes to the Resource Management Act. Non-rates income was expected to increase by almost 20 percent in the year ahead. "We are expecting higher fee revenue in some activities such as parking and aquatics. "We have moderated our property renewals budget down for affordability and to ensure we can deliver the planned programme. "Three waters capital programmes have been moderated to ensure that they are deliverable in the 2025/26 financial year." The council had also made minor reductions to venues improvement budgets and optimised corporate budgets for items like IT hardware replacements. It was committed to "investing solidly" in core infrastructure, with more than 80 percent of capital spending earmarked over the next 10 years for the likes of footpaths, roading, and stormwater. There was also an 11 percent increase in infrastructure spending from 2024/25. The council also tightened spending on insurance cover by taking a risk-based approach on property and removing some assets from its insurance schedule. The council has forecast an unbalanced budget of $5.5 million for 2025/26 due to increased depreciation costs from inflation and large new assets like the redeveloped Sarjeant Gallery and wastewater treatment plant. "While we are repaying debt on these long-life assets, we believe it's not fair for current ratepayers to also fund future replacements. Running an unbalanced budget is prudent in the short-term." Tripe said the council's balance sheet was strong, debt was under control and additional repayments were being made to loans. Asked how these decisions would affect long-term planning, Tripe said the council was looking beyond the short-term and planning for the future. "We're creating a strategy for Whanganui with five goals: to grow, build for, protect, celebrate and activate Whanganui." This included plans to establish a standalone entity to improve housing stock and allocating an extra $590,000 toward debt repayment, on top of existing repayments. Paying down debt more quickly would benefit future generations, Tripe said. "This equates to 0.7 percent of the 2.2 percent average rates increase." Asked if he was confident the council was investing adequately in the district's future, Tripe said Whanganui was faring well in a difficult national economy. "We should be excited about our future. Whanganui has a fantastic range of facilities for our community and the council is committed to maintaining these and ensuring that the infrastructure is in place for Whanganui to continue to be a great place to live, work and visit." - LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air
Scoop
3 days ago
- Business
- Scoop
‘All Options On The Table': Whanganui Gears Up For Crucial Call On Future Of Water Services
Whanganui mayor Andrew Tripe says his council's decision next week on a water services model for the district is 'hugely important'. 'This decision will help shape how our district's drinking water, stormwater and wastewater services will be delivered into the future. 'I think I speak for all councillors when I say no one is taking it lightly.' Under the government's Local Water Done Well reforms, councils around the country must submit a water services plan by September. Tripe said councillors will consider four viable options at a meeting on Tuesday. 'Importantly Whanganui is in the enviable position of having all options on the table because we have invested well in our water infrastructure and have strong future investment.' Three of the water service delivery options were shared with the community during public engagement earlier this year. They are: • A standalone Whanganui District Council-owned Council-Controlled Organisation (CCO) • A larger multi-council CCO involving as many councils as possible • An in-house business unit (status quo) A three-council model formed by Ruapehu, Rangitīkei and Whanganui councils was no longer viable following Rangitīkei's decision to join Horowhenua and Palmerston North. However, the council would consider a fourth option – a Ruapehu and Whanganui CCO model. Tripe said following community consultation in March, councillors and staff had continued discussions with all neighbouring councils. 'The good news is that we are fortunate so many partners want to work with us, allowing us to have multiple credible options to choose from, each with real benefits. 'What's most important to our council is choosing the path that delivers for our community now and into the future.' Potential partners had agreed that any water services delivery model should be based on a non-harmonised (local) pricing approach. 'We heard loud and clear that our community wants us to consider local pricing, and we are pleased our neighbours are on the same page,' Tripe said. Local pricing would see residents within each district charged on the same basis as currently, while sharing savings. Customers would pay costs that relate only to the delivery of services in their district. Tripe said deferring the decision to July had allowed more time to appraise each proposed model from the perspective of Te Awa Tupua legislation and values. 'Ultimately, we are putting the health and wellbeing of the community and our awa over and above what could be the best outcome for the council or the final entity – whatever structure that may take.' Last month, Tripe told Local Democracy Reporting each of the four options had their merits. He said the council's general direction at that time was the Ruapehu-Whanganui partnership, but that was not set in stone. The council expected to meet the Government's requirement for a plan by early September, Tripe said. If Whanganui's preferred option is approved by central government, implementation will begin later this year. If a new water services CCO is selected as the preferred option, it could be established by mid-2026 and fully operational by mid-2027. On Wednesday, Ruapehu District councillors voted down a mayoral motion to join Rangitīkei, Horowhenua and Palmerston North in a multi-council water services body in favour of a two-council CCO with Whanganui.
Kiwiblog
10-06-2025
- Business
- Kiwiblog
Well done Whanganui
Radio NZ reported: Whanganui District Council is sticking to an average rates increase of 2.2 percent following deliberations on its draft Annual Plan. Mayor Andrew Tripe believes it's the lowest rise in the country for the year ahead. Tripe said the council has focused on doing the basics well, investing in core infrastructure, and involving the community in decision-making.
