Council's Long-term Plan (LTP) outlines to our community how we intend to invest over the next 10 years. We want to share our plans for the next ten years and give you the opportunity to let us know what you think. All the feedback received will be considered before we finalise and adopt the plan.

The LTP is an important part of council's planning process. It sets out the services and activities that Council will provide, the projects Council will carry out, and the level of service the community can expect over the next decade. It also includes how much Council expects things to cost, how everything will be paid for and what it means for rates and debt.

This document highlights some important challenges facing our District. It outlines how Council plans on addressing them and how this will impact rates.

The Mackenzie has a passionate and proud community, and we want to know what you think about the LTP. Please take a look at LTP document 'It's time for a change' - you can find it to the right of this page.

We want to know what you think. To leave feedback please complete our online consultation form which can be found at the bottom of this page.

The Big Issue - Funding our Future

There’s no getting around it, Council need to put up rates to ensure that all the work that needs to be done is delivered.

There are a number of challenges faced by councils, in fact many councils around the country have had to put up rates this year.

Local Government across New Zealand is responding to challenges and increased expectations, both from central government and from our communities. In order to meet them, and to continue to operate in a financially responsible manner, rates have to be increased. Council don’t like it any more than our ratepayers do, but we believe there is no other option.

Our Long-Term Plan 2021-2031 prepares for the delivery of key services and infrastructure. We intend to:

1. Adequately fund the required levels of service in township maintenance to meet community and visitor expectations
2. Tackle a capital and operational maintenance programme that includes road safety improvements, maintains accreditation for building control, maintains council property to required building standards and to ensure we meet legislative requirements for services such as the management of swimming pools and animal control.
3. Resource appropriately so we can deliver key projects with short timelines set by central government.
4. Fund compliance requirements for the Fairlie Council Building and the Twizel Events Centre to ensure we provide safe and resilient facilities for our residents to use.
5. Begin a complete review of the Mackenzie District Plan.
6. Address additional central government requirements, particularly new Drinking Water Standards requiring higher service levels in terms of treatment.
7. Increased associated costs (depreciation and interest payments) for increased capital expenditure.

Traditionally, Mackenzie has had some of the lowest rates in the country, however we now have to upgrade what we offer and join the rest of New Zealand improving how we deliver across a number of areas. Unfortunately, there is little choice, as these are now the minimum levels of service required.

What are we proposing?

Council are proposing to fund the total rates as shown below in each year. This sees the highest rates rises in the first six years of the plan, with smaller increases over the following four years. This means that some front-end costs will be loan funded and repaid by the end of year six, with the impact on rates increases shown in the table below:

Within this rating model we have applied $2.4m of borrowings to smooth rates increases. This will offset higher rates in the first six years and will be repaid by the end of the LTP.

How do we fund our pools and halls?

Across the district we have two swimming pools, three urban community facilities and three rural halls.

Our pools and community facilities and halls provide a benefit to the whole district, but at present they are partially funded through targeted rates on each of our three main townships, with the rural halls being funded by our rural ratepayers.

The remainder of the costs are made up through user charges, with the people who use the halls and pools paying directly when they use them. We recover up to 20% of the costs of our pools through user charges, and 20-40% for community facilities and halls.

People who use the facilities will continue to pay user charges, but to cover the remaining costs we have considered two options. Under both options levels of service and debt levels will remain the same.

Irrespective of the options chosen, there are no impacts on debt and levels of services.

Option One – A District Good

Option one considers a capital value charge across all ratepayers of the district. This would mean that all ratepayers are paying on the same basis towards the collective management of our district’s swimming pools, community centres and halls, as they provide a ‘district good’ – that is a benefit to the whole district.

Option Two – A Proximity Benefit

Option two looks to strike a balance between district wide benefit, while giving consideration to the geographic spread of our district.

Under this option, MDC would recover 30% of the funding required through a district-wide rate, while the remainder would be paid for by the communities where the facilities are located. This would be levied through our current township and rural works and services rates.

LTP Drop-in Sessions

We want to talk through the LTP with you. To do this we’ll be holding drop-in sessions in Fairlie, Takapō and Twizel at the following times and locations. Drop by to discuss the LTP with our senior leadership team and Councilors.

Please note the final drop in session in Twizel has been pushed back a week following feedback from the community. If you can’t make it along to the drop-in sessions please take a look at our LTP document 'It's time for a change'.

We want to know what you think. To leave feedback please complete our online consultation form, you can find it at the bottom of this page

Submissions close at 5pm on Friday 5th November 2021.