Napier City Council leads the pack of Hawke’s Bay councils

22 AUGUST 2017 - Napier City Council is well ahead of its neighbouring territorial authorities according to Ratepayers’ Report, the Taxpayers’ Union’s local government league tables, released today at www.ratepayersreport.nz. Metrics including average residential rates, operating expenses, and liabilities per ratepayer were used to assess the performance of Hawke’s Bay councils, with Napier City Council generally coming out on top, and well ahead of the sister-city, Hastings District Council.

Jordan Williams, Executive Director of the Taxpayers’ Union says, "At only $1,870, the average rates bill of Napier City Council is the lowest of any city council throughout New Zealand."

"With the lowest operating expenses per residential ratepayer in Hawke’s Bay and the seventh lowest debt per person of all local authorities, Ratepayers’ Report indicates that Napier ratepayers benefit from good financial management at the town hall.”

“Incredibly, despite the water killing three people, Ratepayers’ Report exposes that not a single person has been fired for poor performance at the Hastings District Council in the last year. Not even one. That compares to the Far North District Council, a council of similar size, where five people were sacked over the same period for not being up to scratch.”

Wairoa District Council does poorly

Ratepayers’ Report also suggests that ratepayers in Wairoa District are not receiving the same value for money as their counterparts in Napier City. Residential ratepayers in Wairoa District are faced with an average rates bill of $2,382, as well as having the region’s highest staff costs per residential ratepayer at $2,287.”

“Ratepayers in Wairoa District may wish to question why their town hall has a higher ratio of staff to residential ratepayers than any other council in New Zealand. Staff costs per ratepayer are more than double those of the Hastings District Council.”

“For such a financially challenged district, this suggests there is an element of empire building at the expense of ensuring ratepayers get value for money.”

Public can judge for themselves

"Ratepayers' Report is available online and free of charge so all Hawke’s Bay ratepayers can judge for themselves the performance of their local town hall."

Ratepayers’ Report available at www.ratepayersreport.nz

Note: All references to rates in the above comments, refer to residential rates.

Other findings relating to Hawke’s Bay:

• Napier City charges the lowest average residential rates in the region, at $1,870.

• Average residential rates charges at Hastings District Council are $2,080, $2,382 at Wairoa District Council, and $2,511 at Central Hawke’s Bay District Council, the highest in the region.

• Napier City Council pays proportionally fewer staff a salary of over $100,000 compared to any other council in New Zealand, with only 4.88% of staff receiving such remuneration.

• Wairoa District has the highest ratio of staff to residential ratepayers in New Zealand, with one employee for every 27 residential ratepayers.

• Councils considered in this comparison are Central Hawke’s Bay District Council, Hastings District Council, Napier City Council, and Wairoa District Council.

Q & A

What is Ratepayers’ Report?

Ratepayers’ Report is interactive local government league tables covering financial position, performance, and governance information for all of New Zealand’s territorial authorities (excluding the Chatham Islands).

What is the purpose of Ratepayers’ Report?

Ratepayers' Report provides accountability and transparency to New Zealand ratepayers by allowing anyone to compare their local territorial authority with others around the country.

Where was the data sourced?

The New Zealand Taxpayers' Union working with its sister group, the Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance, compiled the data in Ratepayers' Report after reviewing each council's annual report for the year ending June 30, 2016.

Other figures represent the most up to date figures available and were mostly obtained under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act.

The data has been sent to each individual authority for their review and error checking prior to public launch.

Population data is from Statistics New Zealand.

Where did the group finance figures come from?

They are taken from each Council's annual report. They include council figures, plus any subsidiary council controlled organisations.

Which councils are assessed in Ratepayers' Report?

Of New Zealand's 67 territorial authorities, 66 are examined in Ratepayers' Report. That includes all city, district, and unitary councils, with the exclusion of Chatham Islands Territory Council (due to concerns surrounding that Council's workload pressure and unique position). In future iterations of Ratepayers' Report, we plan to incorporate regional councils into the analysis.

Is this the first Ratepayers' Report?

No. Ratepayers' Report was first published in 2014 jointly by the Taxpayers' Union and Fairfax Media.

How are the councils (territorial authorities) grouped?

• Unitary authorities – the 5 territorial authorities which also carry out the functions of a regional authority are grouped.

• Metropolitan – the 5 large councils with a population of over 120,000.

• City – 6 smaller metropolitan councils with populations between 40,000 and 120,000.

• Provincial – the largest group, 27 non-metropolitan councils with a population over 20,000.

• Rural – 23 councils with populations less than 20,000.

How was the average residential rate calculated?

Calculating an 'apples to apples' figure for residential rates is difficult because councils use various mixes of rates, levies, and user charges. Our approach is based on work by Napier City Council to find an average residential rate. The methodology councils were asked to use to calculate the figures disclosed in Ratepayers' Report is available here, www.taxpayers.org.nz/rp_methodology.

While we think this approach is useful and fair, the average residential rates figure should be a guide only. It does not, for example, factor in councils' reliance on commercial rates. It also puts unitary authorities at a disadvantage. Unitary authorities (Auckland Council, Nelson City Council, Gisborne, Tasman, and Marlborough District Councils, and the Chatham Islands Council) perform the functions of a regional council and therefore can be expected to have higher rates than other territorial authorities.

Were councils consulted in the process?

Yes. Every council was sent a draft version of their respective page to review.

ENDS

© Scoop Media