Local Board Update January 2018
It’s 2018 and Council is kicking things off with consultation on its ’10 Year Budget’ formally the ‘Long Term Plan’.
The Mayor has published his vision for the 10 Year Budget and as an executive Mayor, rather than the type of Mayor’s we had under Rodney District Council, he leads this process. You can find out where he’s headed by googling ‘Mayors Vision For Auckland’.
I can imagine a few rolled eyes at this point and the usual justifiable cynicism about the whole process, “why bother” you’ll be asking yourself, “no one will listen and they’ve made their minds up already”…
The 10 Year Budget sets out the spending goals for your Council. This budget will determine the level of rates council sets over the coming years, the services council provides, how it spends your rates and money it borrows for capital spending, the major projects it undertakes whether for community facilities or transport infrastructure, how it’s going to manage its finances and ensure the ‘books are balanced’ and what will be cut to ensure that.
Given we’ve got a lot of residential growth in our district and all the associated infrastructure pain that comes with this, it’s very important we engage with this process and provide feedback for or against the proposals.
The Local Board has a number of important things we want feedback on.
We have a planned a multipurpose indoor sports facility for Huapai to meet demand for courts sports and out of season use by the growing sports clubs in the area. Getting widespread public support for this $12million project will be essential if it’s to go ahead.
We are also planning to undertake main street upgrades in Helensville and want to ensure this is widely support before we allocate funding to this work.
We have heard from you about the transport issues we face and there was tentative support for a proposed targeted rate to bring forward transport spending. We have spent over six months working with Council’s finance team and Auckland Transport on a range of projects that could be financed by a $150 targeted rate per property. It includes additional road sealing for local roads like Wilson Road in South Head, and footpaths in Helensville and Kaukapakapa. More buses from Kumeu, a new bus service from Riverhead and a Park’n’Ride in Kumeu.
Unfortunately, our proposals for a targeted rate are against the background of other targeted rates across Auckland for improving water quality and environmental issues.
Residents will have to weigh up the benefits of these targeted rates proposals and decide whether they offer value for money. Targeted rates have one positive attribute in that they must, by law, be spent on the purpose they are levied for. This means we can have confidence the money will go where it’s meant to be going, however you may feel the benefits for you are limited. There are arguments for and against, however the Local Board received feedback that residents wanted the option and so we have presented a viable package for your consideration. It is now going to up to your feedback whether we proceed with this.
It is essential we get as many people as possible providing feedback either for or against the plan as the community’s future will be guided by these budgets.
This year a detailed document will not be sent out to addresses as in previous year with the push being to get people to go online to provide feedback, or visit their local library for a feedback form.
Consultation starts in late February & March and keep an eye out here or on Facebook for information or google ‘Auckland 10 Year Budget’ for more information
The RUB* 