February 17, 2009

Media Release (For Immediate Release)

Waitakere Begins Budget Deliberations

Waitakere City Council began formal deliberations on its Annual Plan (budget) today.

Over the next week Councillors will examine detailed budget material before adopting a draft budget for public consultation.

Their starting budget indicates a Council-controlled rates rise of just 2.93% (around $1.20 per week for the average residential property). This excludes regional levies for the likes of the Auckland War Memorial Museum, Watercare, MoTAT and the recently established Auckland Regional Amenities Funding Board.

The figure is well down on the 7% rates increase signalled in the Council’s 10 year plan.

Councillor Janet Clews, chairperson of the LTCCP (Long Term Council Community Plan) and Annual Plan Committee says that in the next financial year the Council will spend the bulk of its rates money on "basics" such as stormwater, wastewater, parks, footpaths and roads.

Mrs Clews says that over the past six months a special budget review sub-committee has been working rigorously with senior staff to get any rates rise as close to the rate of inflation as possible.

She points to expenditure on items outside of the Council’s control such as graffiti removal and repairing other vandalism in public places, which costs over $1 million a year. “That alone adds about one percent to our overall costs.”

Mrs Clews says that tightening budgets in times of economic recession must also be balanced by maintaining basic infrastructure and services. “To do that we are going to have to delete or defer some projects and that will be the focus of our deliberations over the next week.”

ENDS

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