Hutt City Council has published the draft Annual Report for the year ended 30 June 2022. The results are very grim reading and will alarm residents.

Mayoral candidate Tony Stallinger says “I have never seen anything like it. Of the 87 key performance measures set for the year, only 32 have been achieved. Most of the remaining targets have been missed by large margins. Failings are across the board. If elected, I personally undertake to get the council back on track, delivering services to the standard that residents expect.”

“Service delivery to residents has plunged despite a massive increase in rates compared to just three years ago. Unfortunately, a large portion of the extra rates take has gone to overhead costs, which have increased by over 50%, costing ratepayers a total of $20 million more over the three years,” says Mr Stallinger.

The excessive overhead spending is illustrated by the number of staff earning over $100,000 doubling from 48 (1) to 102 (2) over that period. “At least we now have some idea where the $20m has gone”, says Mr Stallinger.

Residents know that basic services are going backwards, and this is now confirmed in Council’s draft Annual Report. For example, there has been a marked deterioration in the condition of our roads and footpaths (3), recycling contamination rates are increasing (11% to 18%) (4) and the percentage of non-notified resource consents processed in time has fallen from 97% to 47% (5).

The most alarming results of all are those covering resident satisfaction. Here’s some examples compared to three years ago:

Satisfaction with roads down from 81% to 42% (3)
Satisfaction with footpaths down from 83% to 37% (3)
Satisfaction with waste collection services down from 91% to 73% (4)
Satisfaction with cycleways down from 64% to 20% (6)
Satisfaction with parks reserves and playgrounds down from 95% to 71-77% (7)

Consultation: Residents really put the boot in when it comes to being able to input into council decision-making processes. Only 40% were satisfied, compared with the council's target of >80%. Just 47% felt they were given enough time to provide feedback. (8)

The poor consultation ratings reflect the commitments given by the Mayor and others to central government political policy. Residents feel left on the sidelines.

The full Draft Annual Report is available here, with references:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cE7b7GMi5TbaAV-uPXizVeTcVjZfpVSs/view?usp=sharing

References
(1) p138 of 2019 Annual Report: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qdT45-vTK8QTdMkhApSSm7HM0t0Q1WHH/view?usp=sharing
(2) p145 of 2022 Annual Report (p158 of PDF)
(3) p67 of 2022 Annual Report (p80 of PDF)
(4) p54 of 2022 Annual Report (p67 of PDF)
(5) p63 of 2022 Annual Report (p76 of PDF)
(6) p68 of 2022 Annual Report (p81 of PDF)
(7) p84 of 2022 Annual Report (p97 of PDF)
(8) p96 of 2022 Annual Report (p109 of PDF)

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