Framing 2022/23

E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā rangatira mā o te rohe nei o Rangitīkei, tēnā koutou katoa. Mihi mahana tēnei o te Kaunihera o Rangitīkei kia tātou katoa e noho ana ki roto i te rohe nei, nau mai, whakatau mai rā The Rangitīkei District Council acknowledges all those who live within our District. We send a warm welcome to you all.

Haere mai and welcome to our 2022/23 Annual Plan Consultation for Rangitīkei District Council’s Year Two of the 2021-2031 Long Term Plan. Everyone within the Rangitīkei District is invited and welcome to provide feedback on the 2022/23 Annual Plan through mail, online, in person or verbal submissions.The Council wants to hear feedback from all ages and ethnicities, from townships and rural communities, right across the District.

What is an Annual Plan? The Annual Plan sets out the Council’s plans and budget for 2022/23. It identifies any variations from what was planned in our Long Term Plan and the reasons for these.

The Annual Plan Consultation tells you about what Council will be doing and services it will be providing in 2022/23. It outlines our projected rate increase and explains where this will be spent. We also highlight some of the issues and challenges we face as a District in 2022/23. It's also an invitation for you to have your say on the work we are planning and share your ideas on other changes you would like to see. We are committed to the future of our district and creating an annual plan that best serves the communities who live here, while recognising the challenges we are currently facing. To achieve this we need to hear from you - our people, about what you want and need to make this District home.

This increase excludes a possible Forestry Differential and an increase a Rural Water Scheme is considering for its members. Ratepayers outside of these two groups will not be impacted by any changes. Read more about how this rate is made up below.

E ngā tāngata katoa o te rohe nei, piki mai kake mai.

Our district is changing and for the first time in decades we have a positive feel to our future. The numbers of people moving here, establishing connections and setting up business is staggering. This growth in our economy provides children for our schools and fuels the demand for secondary services such as shops. Our district desperately needed growth and people to share the rates burden. This Annual Plan is Year 2 of the Long Term Plan and closely follows that plan. Essentially these Council planning documents describe what we intend on doing, why and how it will be funded. The Annual Plan for this year includes an expected rating increase of 7.29% (excluding the proposed forestry differential and changes to one of our Rural Water Schemes) which is within the Long Term Plan position. Focus in this Annual Plan includes consulting with the public around climate change. Climate change is now an accepted fact so we must consider what Council should fund to reduce the impact. With all of the Government reforms, questions are raised around what will Local Government be responsible for if district planning, consents and the Three Waters responsibilities are regionalised? The Minister of Local Government has stated many times that Local Government will be needed more than ever. Certainly the focus of our work may well change to one of handling social issues such as employment, health and housing. Our Council is already working on economic development and housing issues and this year we are keen to work on how we address community housing needs. We already have significant relationships with iwi providers throughout our district. These areas of social responsibility are also incredibly important to them. We anticipate the possibility of CCOs in the future or joint relationships in terms of providing for these facilities. This year we are proposing a forestry differential, an approach already taken by some of our neighbouring Councils. This special rate is proposed to be put in place for land specifically associated with forestry to help offset the damage to our rural roads. I encourage you to read the our Consultation Document, either on this website, or request a copy by emailing  info@rangitikei.govt.nz  or phoning our Customer Experience staff on 0800 422 522. Ngā mihi, Andy Watson, Mayor of Rangitīkei

• We completed the Bus Lane at Te Matapihi, in March 2022. The Town Square, including local art work, will be completed in April 2022.
• Construction of the new Mangaweka Bridge has begun and is due to be complete in June 2022, one month earlier than planned.
• We completed stage one of the upgrade on the RSA and Citizens Memorial Hall. This work included reroofing, asbestos removal, restoring and improving the flooring, painting, installing fire systems and heat pumps in entrance area and rewiring. Stage two will get underway shortly, this includes installing accessible bathrooms and new heating and cooling systems. A building consent has been approved for this work.
• Work was completed on the remediation of the historic landfill on Putorino Road.
• The new Bulls reservoir, next to the old Bulls water tower, was completed.
• Planned work in the Marton Water Strategy has begun with a tender process for the construction of a new test bore underway. A tender process is also about to begin for work on the detailed design for alterations to the existing Marton Plant. The project is due to be completed in mid-2024.
• Work has started on the new amenities building, Ngā Awa Block, at Taihape Memorial Park. Ngā Awa Block will provide sports teams with a modern changing facility that will serve our community for many years to come.
• Work has begun to look at options for strengthening the Taihape Grandstand.
• Marton to Bulls Wastewater Centralisation Project has begun with the construction of the pipeline from Marton to bulls. This project is expected to be completed by June 2022.
• The new playground in Marton, Te Āhuru Mōwai, was completed and opened in March 2021.
• The roof at the Marton pool was replaced and asbestos was removed.
• We made improvements to the roof at the Marton Gym and removed the asbestos.
• We have reviewed our representation to introduce Māori Wards.
• We have engaged consultants to produce a Parks, Open Spaces and Sporting Facilities Strategy which will be completed by June 2022. This Strategy will provide long term guidance on the parks and open spaces that we need across the district.
• We are progressing work on the Better Business Case for the Marton Civic Centre and we are about to start a Better Business Case for the Taihape Civic Centre.
• An Urban Design Study for Taihape Memorial Park has commenced and will be completed by the end of June 2022. This study will help make informed decisions about what the park needs and where it should go.
• We’re now part-way through the development of a spatial plan for the Rangitīkei. We’ve called this project Pae Tawhiti Rangitīkei Beyond. The purpose of this project is to develop a plan that identifies community aspirations and sets out the strategic direction for future growth. So far, we’ve done background research, and we are near the end of the community engagement phase. The next step is to develop a draft spatial plan, that we will share with the community for submissions. Once complete, the spatial plan will guide a range of Council projects, including our infrastructure planning and district plan review.

We’ve created a strategic framework that tells us what’s most important and what we’re working towards. It identifies our purpose, vision, community outcomes, strategies and plans. The strategic framework shows a hierarchy. Our purpose at the top guides everything we do, with everything below working towards achieving that purpose. It’s important to have a clear strategic framework to guide Council investment. It helps us know where we are going, and what is important so we can deliver services and projects that contribute to this. Through this annual planning process, we have looked at the framework (see right) to ensure what we are delivering for the community is aligned with our purpose, vision and community outcomes.

As part of the development of the 2021-31 Long Term Plan Council signalled a potential rating differential on land classified as “forestry land”.

A rating differential is a different value for a particular category or type of a rateable land, in this instance “forestry land”. The additional funds from the differential will be used to address forestry generated roading issues. The rate is targeted at land that is predominantly or solely in plantation forestry. Farmers who want to plant trees on small blocks on their properties can do so without worrying about the higher rate. The rates that would be collected under the differential would be additional to the proposed level of rates increase indicated in the Long Term Plan, and only apply to properties classified as “forestry land”.

We establish a forestry differential rate of 1.5 for the 2022/23 and 1.5 for the 2023/24 year.

Likely consequences:

• Impact on rates: a differential of 1.5 would be applied to forestry land rates
• Impact on debt: Nil
• Impact on levels of service: Increase

We do not establish a forestry differential rate and continue to pay for forestry generated roading issues out of our current roading budgets.

Likely consequences:

• Impact on rates: Nil
• Impact on debt: Nil
• Impact on levels of service: Status quo

The Council is consulting on a proposal to establish a new Marton Rail Hub related Council-Controlled Organisation (CCO) for the purposes of developing, operating and maintaining the Marton Rail Hub and associated assets.

Council Controlled Organisations are very common throughout New Zealand; they are formed by and report back to Council. They are often used as a business to develop funding sources to supplement local rates for Councils. Rangitīkei District Council has had one in the past. Once established, the Council intends to place approximately $10M of capital, approved under the 2021-31 Long Term Plan for the Marton Rail Hub redevelopment, into the CCO. This includes $9.1M of Crown funding granted through the Infrastructure Reference Group (IRG). Assets from the CCO will form part of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV). The SPV will be responsible for investing capital from the Council, IRG and private third party investors in the Marton Rail Hub redevelopment and will have a similar reporting requirement to that of a CCO. The SPV will manage the Marton Rail Hub Portfolio on the Council’s behalf with revenue mostly being used for the purposes of developing, operating and maintaining the Rail Hub and associated assets.

We establish a new Rail Hub related CCO for the purposes of developing, operating and maintaining the Marton Rail Hub and associated assets.

Likely consequences

• Impact on rates: Nil
• Impact on debt: Nil
• Impact on levels of service: Increase

We do not establish a new Rail-hub related CCO for the purposes of developing, operating and maintaining the Marton Rail-hub and associated assets.

Likely consequences:

• Impact on rates: Nil
• Impact on debt: Nil
• Impact on levels of service: Status quo

Our climate is changing, and Rangitīkei District Council is committed to mitigating the impact of these changes on our district.

We want our community and local economy to be more resilient and adaptable in the face of climate change. Agriculture and manufacturing are a proud driving force of our economy, and we must act against climate change to ensure the sustainable futures of these industries. We have a varied environment in the district, facing challenges with increasing temperatures, sea-level rise, erosion, drought and extreme weather. Our rural and small communities are heavily impacted by these changes. The purpose of the questions below is to plot a course for action to both mitigate and adapt to climate change. They will help to provide a framework for collaboration across the Rangitīkei District and beyond among tangata whenua, iwi, neighbouring councils, central government, non-government organisations, private industry, education, our communities, and people.

Infrastructure accounts for more than 80 per cent of the Council’s operating expenditure and almost all of Council’s capital expenditure.

To keep moving forward, we need to deliver a huge range of infrastructure projects. We need to do this while maintaining a balance between delivering our services, getting the best value for our district, ensuring equity between generations and fairly sharing the cost. We need to stay within our financial limits so we can keep on track while implementing our plans and ensuring a great future for our communities. Our 2021-2031 Long Term Plan sets out some solid plans that will have a big impact on your lives, and not your wallet. Our full Financial and Infrastructure Strategy (which you can find online) details the key infrastructural issues we face over the next 30 years, the costs and service implications, and how we plan to manage them.

Every year, we collect rates from property owners in our District to cover the costs in our budget, pay back some debt (if we have any) and store some away for future renewals of our assets (depreciation).

In our District we have about 7,900 rateable properties and the amount of money needed to pay for Council services and facilities is divided between these properties. The amount charged is different for each property and how much you pay can depend on things like:

• The value of your property and whether it changes
• What services the property owners/occupiers receive or are likely to benefit from
• Changes to our rating charges

Council is increasing its Rates as outlined in the LTP.

The LTP identifies a rates increase for Y2 of 7.29%, this is what we’ve proposed. There are two potential exceptions:

1. The possible introduction of a differential to the forestry sector will be in addition to the figure stated in the LTP
2. One of the Rural Water Schemes is considering a rates increase more than the figure in the LTP. This will be discussed with the Scheme’s members and will only apply to these members.
3. Note - this figure is not an average rates increase per household, it is a percentage increase to the total revenue from rates. As the district continues to grow there are more people paying rates, meaning the increase is spread across more households. Put simply, the growth of the region positively impacts your rates, many properties will receive an increase of less than 6%.

While we do our best to maintain our District’s growth, while living within our means, sometimes we need to utilise borrowed funds to support our projects.

Borrowing allows us to get the things we need now, and pay it off over time. Repaying loans over time also means that current and future ratepayers contribute to the cost of the asset that they both benefit from.

Predicted future debt levels remain as stated in the LTP.

$16 million of the capital program that was scheduled for completion on 2021/22 is now budgeted to be completed in 2022/23. This transfers the debt increase from 2021/22 to 2022/23 but doesn’t impact the total. The budgeted debt position at 30 June 2023 is $34 million.

Council funds and looks after many assets and infrastructure in our District, such as roads, pipes, buildings, parks, town signage and rubbish bins.

The money we spend on developing, upgrading or maintaining physical assets is known as capital expenditure. Council’s capital expenditure is generally funded by debt, grants, subsidies and/or rates. Additional debt will mostly be in relation to the acquisition and construction of new assets and infrastructure, rather than the replacement of existing assets and infrastructure. We also fund and take care of many services in our District, including running, monitoring and regulating the goings-on in our communities. This is known as operational expenditure.

Central Government is going ahead with progressing these reforms. This means that from July 2024 three waters services will be provided by four publicly-owned water service entities.

Three Waters includes drinking water, waste water and storm water. Here in Rangitīkei, these services are delivered by Manawatū District Council under a shared services agreement. The services provided are funded through rates. The four entities are geographically split and are referred to as A, B, C and D. Rangitīkei District sits within entity B, alongside much of the central North Island. Council are now proceeding with transition work to migrate assets and staff into these new entities. The Department of Internal Affairs are the Government agency leading this reform – you can find extensive information about the progress and next steps on their website  dia.govt.nz/Three-Waters-Reform-Programme.  Three Waters Reform Financial Support to Local Authorities

“Better Off Funding” Central Government will provide funding support for Councils. The funding means no local authority is financially or materially in a worse off position to provide services to its community. Their “Better off” package – supports Local Government to invest in the well-being of their communities. The fund consists of $1 billion of Crown funding. $500 million of the intended funding will be provided to local authorities from 1 July 2022 to enable early investment; the remainder from 1 July 2024. The funding allocation framework is based on:

• 75% Population
• 20% Deprivation index
• 5% Land area

Rangitīkei District Council will receive a total of $13,317,834, with up to $3.3 million available from 1 July 2022. Funding be used for capital expenditure or operating expenditure programmes. Any spend must support the three waters service delivery reform objectives, and other local wellbeing outcomes, and must align with the priorities of central government and local government, in particular:

• To support communities to transition to a sustainable and low emissions economy, Delivery of infrastructure/services that:enable housing development and growth, and local place-making and improvements in community well-being
• To recognise the role that Iwi/Māori will play in the delivery system as partners
• To ensure value for money and appropriate contractual mechanisms.

Council has identified options for the use of this fund, including the development of a Climate Change Strategy for the District; progressing the District Plan review earlier than planned; and addressing housing in the District.

• Proposed Schedule of Fees and Charges 2022/23.
• Draft Rates Remission Policy.
• Draft Rates Remission Policy for Maori Freehold Land.

Full details can be found on our website  www.rangitikei.govt.nz 

Submissions close at 5pm Monday, 9 May 2022.

Contact our Council staff by calling 0800 422 522 or contact an Elected Member Email us at  info@rangitikei.govt.nz  Tune into one of our live discussions on our Facebook - facebook.com/RangitikeiDC on: • Wednesday, 13 April at 9am • Tuesday, 19 April at 2pm • Thursday, 21 April at 6pm Attend one of our  drop-in sessions  throughout the District. Covid restrictions permitting.