Councillors discussed community feedback on the Otago Regional Council’s draft annual plan ahead of its scheduled adoption on Wednesday.
At a public annual plan workshop ahead of this week’s meeting councillors indicated funding requests would likely be considered during submissions to the upcoming 2024-34 long-term plan.
However, Wai Wanaka, the Upper Clutha Wilding Tree Group and Southern Lakes Sanctuary are all facing financial shortfalls and were among the few groups who asked the council for financial help this year.
After discussion among councillors, interim chief executive Dr Pim Borren said money for new projects would not be easily found.
The council was already proposing a deficit budget, he said.
"We are looking at a significant rates increase - and my view isn’t different from most of the councillors’ comments.
"These people are doing fantastic work, sometime in the future - and it’ll be part of the LTP process - we might need to consider the possibility of funding some of this work locally rather than through central government, but the challenge right now is we are unlikely to have the available money in the last year of our long-term plan.
"Because, we weren’t expecting these requests," he said.
"And, secondly, it’s quite challenging to consider them as ad hoc requests when we haven’t really opened up any opportunity for people to apply for funding."
Dr Borren told Cr Bryan Scott the council was "tracking badly" for this current financial year in terms of its bottom line.
"We will end up with a budget which will underperform the one that was signed off last year
... In terms of next year, again, our view is we were keen not to end up with a rates increase of 18% , but we couldn’t find any other savings.
"My view is there are no savings in the upcoming budget that would bring us to something lower than 18%."
The 2023-24 annual plan does not diverge greatly from the approved third year in the present long-term plan and submissions were only informally received.
There were no formal hearings.
The 2023-24 annual plan received limited feedback from individuals, and only 16 organisations wrote to the council to express views.
About 60 organisations submitted during the last long-term plan process in 2021.
In this case, it was more of a case of "who’s not there", staff advised councillors at the public annual plan workshop.
Most of the feedback the council received was not about rates, but rather council policies.
Public transport, land and water planning, harbour management, flood hazard management, and trying to keep costs down were all highlighted, by staff.
Queenstown Lakes District Council requested confirmation of further work on a community shuttle service for Wanaka and Hawea, and regional co-ordination on climate action.
Wai Wanaka asked for $135,000 as interim funding to help it transition away from a central government-funded model.
A request came from the associated group, the Upper Clutha Wilding Tree Group, asking for the council to contribute co-funding of 50%, along with the Queenstown Lakes District Council, to complete a $60,000 control programme.
Southern Lakes Sanctuary asked for $300,000 to continue its work as its Jobs for Nature funding ended and before its new funding stream began.
Otago Fish & Game sought "prioritisation" of a joint project to restore Clutha Lagoon.
However, staff were preparing "prioritisation criteria" for the next long-term plan where water bodies would be assessed and future projects developed.
Dunedin Tracks Network asked for support - including the use of stop banks in developing an off-road cycleway between Wingatui and Waihola - and for co-funding for a project manager.
Federated Farmers requested the council cut services to reduce the rates rise and to change its funding policy, around general rates, to ease the rates burden for rural communities.
