Outgoing Queenstown Lakes District Council assurance and finance general manager Stewart Burns says of the eight long-term plans (LTP) he has dealt with, the most recent — adopted unanimously yesterday — was "no doubt the most difficult".
The plan outlines capital expenditure of about $2.4billion, with an average annual rates increase over the life of the 10-year plan of 7.5% — the average rates increase for 2024-25 is 15.8%.
Following consultation, a targeted rate will be applied to the wider Queenstown CBD to cover 65% of the $69million CBD upgrade — almost $13m — while the cost of the $128m arterial road, which now will not open until late January, will be applied to the existing Wakatipu roading rates.
Cr Matt Wong, who also owns CBD business iFLY and is on the Queenstown Business Chamber of Commerce board, said he would be remiss if he did not speak on behalf of the town centre business community, which was "taking the hit".
In return, they sought additional car parking around the CBD — specifically in Stanley St, on the site of the former Queenstown Art Centre building and Queenstown Playcentre, both of which have been removed from the site — which was "the easiest, low-hanging fruit".
"I hope that we get some support for that before Christmas.
"We will see," he said.
First-term councillor Cody Tucker, of Wanaka, described the long-term plan process as like "trying to build a house in a hurricane".
Mayor Glyn Lewers labelled it the "leaky-building LTP".
He said at the beginning of the triennium, councillors had to make "a pretty big decision" about leaky buildings, which had "significantly curtailed" the council and put it in what he described as a "straitjacket".
The financial juggling was further compounded last December when Local Government Minister Simeon Brown directed councils to include Three Waters investment for the next decade in their long-term plans.
That sent staff into "an absolute spin", Mr Lewers said.
"To shoehorn $930m into years 3 to 10 [of the plan], and then figure out a workforce to actually deliver that, I think is astounding with a three-month extension."
In response to a question from Cr Wong, who asked if the council had enough resources to handle "unforeseen costs" in future, Mr Lewers said one of the main resources it had was staff.
"We looked very seriously at the costs in the [operational expenses] side and it got to a point where any further cuts in staff made minimal difference to any rates, but it made a huge difference to delivery.
"The focus ... is delivering for people in this community and actually having the good work of the people in this organisation."
Cr Lisa Guy said, while for some communities in the district their rates increase was still about 20%, the council started off looking at a 22% increase across the board, and other councils initially looked at 40%.
"I know there has been a lot of, quite literal, blood, sweat and tears over every percentage that has come on or off."
Cr Lyal Cocks, of Wanaka, said it was difficult to adopt a plan with such significant rates implications, and asked for alternative funding options, such as regional deals, user-pays models, bed taxes, road tolls and the international visitor and conservation levy, to be "urgently" progressed.
Crs Barry Bruce and Quentin Smith, both of Wanaka, were among councillors who asked staff and councillors to show agility when funding allowed to progress social infrastructure projects.
"We do need to provide for a range of things for our communities, including libraries [and] sports fields," Cr Smith said.
