Long Term Plan 2024-2044 Consultation

Published on March 15, 2024

What is the Long Term Plan?

The Long Term Plan (LTP) sets our direction for the next 20 years – outlining our activities and providing a long term focus for decision making. It’s an important mechanism which strengthens long term planning, community consultation and participation, and accountability.

This plan:

• Describes the type of District our communities have told us they want – our community outcomes.
• Details the services and key projects we plan to deliver over the next 20 years to deliver on these community outcomes.
• Outlines the cost of delivering these services and how they will be funded.

Why have a Long Term Plan?

Under the Local Government Act 2002 we have to develop a LTP every three years with full consultation of our community each time. The LTP is also an important process which gives our community the opportunity to have a say on where we are heading so it is developed together, and to ensure our planning is robust.

How it’s developed and how you can be involved

The process for developing our LTP is outlined below. Currently, we are in the formal stage of the consultation process, where we’re seeking your input into our draft LTP. 

TOPIC #1 He aha ngā momo ratonga mō tō tātou hapori? What services do we need for our community?

Unlike other councils who may have a port or an airport to augment their income, rates continue to be our main source of income and now make up just over 80% of our operating income.

The decision to propose a significant rate increase is not one we take lightly, especially under the current circumstances. Yet, to maintain the levels of service our community is accustomed to, we’re looking at a substantial rate increase. We’ve started re-evaluating everything from scratch, scrutinising our operational costs and exploring every opportunity to make significant reductions. We are working hard to find operational savings across the board, but to just cover cost increases like interest, depreciation, insurance and utilities, we’re looking at an average rates increase of 14%. But to fully manage the increasing costs of operating a business, while maintaining current service levels, we’re actually facing the need for an average rates increase of 23.6%.

The weight of proposing a significant rates increase was difficult for Elected Members, made worse by the ever-rising costs many households are experiencing, and our district having a disproportionately lower than average household income compared to the rest of New Zealand.

Visit our Rating Database to calculate the impact of the preferred option on your rates.

How the impacts of other consultation questions are worked into the rates figures

The figures you get from the Rating Database calculator all include each of the ‘preferred options’ for questions we are consulting on about managing waste and how costs are shared. They don’t need to be added in. (By law we have to identify ‘preferred options’ and to create a draft budget, but that doesn’t mean Council has already decided on the issues.)

What that means

Note - the impacts of this option on rates for each property and on Council’s borrowings will depend on the reduction in rates expected.

View Topic 1: What services do we need for our community?

TOPIC #2 Te Whakahaere Para Managing Waste

Effective waste management for our district requires a bit of a reset. We’ve closed the Levin Landfill, but there are ongoing costs associated with managing the closed landfill as well as landfill debt. We’re proposing to share the solid waste rates including kerbside recycling in a more sustainable and equitable way.

Landfill legacy rate – Levin Landfill aftercare and landfill debt

Our closed landfills require careful ongoing monitoring and maintenance, especially the Levin Landfill, which needs monitoring and maintenance for a minimum of 30 years. To cover these costs, a ‘Landfill Legacy Rate’ is proposed to be introduced. This rate will allow us to repay the existing landfill loan of $4.7m and fund the ongoing monitoring and maintenance of our closed landfills. We would have ideally paid for this in the past but we haven’t yet. As all residents are likely to have benefited from the landfills in some way, the cost will be evenly shared among all properties in the district, with the loan being serviced over the next 20 years.

For a summary of the advantages and disadvantages of each option and the impact on cost, rates and debt visit letskorero.horowhenua.govt.nz/LTP2024-44

Delivery of kerbside recycling services

Questions:

1. How should we fund kerbside recycling services?
2. Who receives it?

Currently Council provides a fortnightly kerbside recycling service to urban properties. The situation for rural properties is less straightforward. Residents who receive the rural kerbside recycling service have never fully paid for the collection and there is no defined extent (or boundary) of the rural service.

A decision needs to be made to either remove the service or determine if there is a workable and fair way to rate some or all rural residents for the service.

A further complexity is that not all rural properties receive the kerbside recycling service. Those that do were offered the service during its inception if they already had a private commercial rubbish bin collection service in place.

This service is funded through the Solid Waste Targeted Rate. This rate has three components: kerbside recycling, waste disposal operations such as the transfer station and maintenance of the closed Levin Landfill. We are splitting the rate into the three parts so it is clearer who is being charged for what and to more appropriately share the costs.

There are four options below to show how this could be managed.

View Topic 2: Managing Waste

Managing and minimising waste

The government requires all councils to produce a waste management and minimisation plan (WMMP). The plan helps us to comply with legislation and access waste levy funding from the government. As part of this consultation, we are asking you to provide your input into our draft Waste Management and Minimisation Plan 2024.

Read the draft WMMP

TOPIC #3 Te toha utu – mā wai ngā Sharing costs – Who should pay for what?

As with solid waste, part of Council getting the basics right, and sharing costs fairly, we’re proposing to change how we share rates for the Te Awahou Foxton Community Board, and Economic Development. We’re also proposing changes to our Rates Remission Policy.

Te Awahou Foxton Community Board Rate

Te Awahou Foxton Community Board (TAFCB) represents its local community and advocates to Council about local issues, including public transport and facilities such as libraries and parks.

The Board has six members; five members elected by Kere Kere Ward voters, and one councillor appointed by Horowhenua District Council.

The Board receives $188,000 in funding from Council, paid for by rates each year.

View Topic 3: Sharing costs – who should pay for what?

Economic Development Targeted Rate

The economic development funding covers business support and advice provided to existing businesses, Iwi and Māori economic development, inward investment, training opportunities, communications, and provision of economic data.

Currently, economic development is funded entirely through the districtwide General Rate, with the costs shared across all ratepayers.

Long Term Plan Key Dates

Me pēhea rā koe e whai kōrero ai
How to have your say

Kōrero Mai 

It’s easy to ask questions and share your thoughts with us. Submissions close 15 April 2024. Council will receive the formal submissions and other feedback received, including comments from social media, ahead of Council’s decision making.