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Kaipara ratepayers will be asked for their views on the Long Term Plan, including rate cuts, next month.
Kaipara District Council (KDC) will consult on its revised Long Term Plan next month, based on a reduced average rate rise of 3.97 per cent.
Originally, Council was proposing a rate rise of 5.49 per cent.
KDC infrastructure general manager Jim Sephton had the unenviable task of presenting his proposed spending cuts to councillors at a briefing in Mangawhai last month.
In total, his revised capital expenditure programme would wipe $24 million in spending from Council books over 10 years.
Cost cuts include $4 million from the Mangawhai Coastal Walkway development, $500,000 from a Mangawhai Heads carpark and $990,000 from the Mangawhai Community Park.
However, Mangawhai was still expected to receive $5 million for a new library, which would be designed in year one of the plan and constructed in year two.
Water management would also see significant cuts, especially stormwater management, which would decrease from $7.5 million to $1.5 million over the next three years.
Deputy Mayor Anna Curnow asked Mr Sephton what risks flooding might pose without expected stormwater infrastructure upgrades.
Mr Sephton said the Council did not know the risks because it also did not have the money for a risk assessment report.
KDC has received $4.7 million from central government for a new overflow tank at the Mangawhai wastewater treatment plant and renewal work in Dargaville and Kaiwaka.
Mr Sephton said that despite these upgrades, a long-term solution for Mangawhai was needed.
He proposed that sand filters in the Mangawhai plant be replaced with a ‘membrane filter’ at a cost of $2.3 million, to be funded by developer contributions.
It would allow recycled water from the plant to be used for further agricultural uses, solving the problem of what to do with the increase volume of wastewater.
Repairing slips where the sides of roads had eroded was a particularly contentious topic between councillors and Mr Sephton.
Mr Sephton said that the proposed programme would not be able to cover slip repairs while keeping within the constraints of rates increases.
Instead, the programme proposed to install safety signs encouraging drivers to slow down, at a cost of $500,000 in Mangawhai and Kaiwaka, and a further $500,000 in Ruawai and Maungaturoto.
Another fiercely contentious issue was the cost blowout for the fit-out of KDC’s new headquarters in Dargaville, from $500,000 to $1.2 million.
West Coast-Central ward Councillor David Wills challenged Mr Sephton, saying the $1.2m bill amounted to $20,000 per staff member.
“That’s bloody expensive. The justification for the new building was lowering the rent, but this programme has added more than half a million to the original cost,” Cr Wills said.
Mr Sephton said the fit-out design and procurement process had been transparent and robust.
“It is by no means a gold-plated project,” Mr Sephton said.
Otamatea ward Councillor Mark Vincent agreed with Mr Wills.
“I would like to introduce a novel concept – how about building to a budget? When estimates are way out of line, it skews our ability to make decisions,” he said.
Mangawhai-Kaiwaka Councillor Peter Wethey said this was an ongoing problem.
“We sign off on figures and those figures turn out to be nonsense. Accountability is key to establish trust in Council and this is not good enough,” Cr Wethey said.
“We are going into a big-ticket plan with a lot of projects and if each comes in over cost, we will be history.”
