Our councils have spent their last week tidying up their reporting for the 2024/25 financial year.
They have approved their last Annual Reports of the triennium, all of which are independently audited and soon to be posted on council websites.
A quick read provides this big picture money-wise:
| Revenue | Operating Expense | Surplus/ deficit | Capital Spend | External debt | |
| HDC | $367m | $272m | $95m | $241m | $472m |
| NCC | $189m | $199m | ($10m) | $94m | $65m |
| CHB | $75m | $58m | $17m | $39m | $49m |
| WDC | $79m | $64m | $15m | $27m | $10m |
| HBRC | $172m | $138m | $34m | $24m | $118m |
| TOTAL | $882m | $731m | $151m | $425m | $714m |
The total spend above of $1.2 billion million includes $425 million for capital projects, where major asset renewal and recovery spending lies … most of that is debt-financed because of its inter-generational benefit. The external debt column gives an indication of the scale of capital spend in the future pipeline.
All but NCC are reporting an operating surplus … with stated reasons including cost efficiencies achieved, projects delayed or stretched out, staff positions left unfilled, higher investment earnings, and government funding support.
So our councils – the biggest business in HB? – spent $1.2 billion last year (and think of the multiplier effects of that!), but despite all our complaining, less than half of us bother to vote on who should hold the purse strings. Go figure!
The Annual Reports deliver much more than a financial picture. They also present each council’s description of its performance of services delivered against a wide array of milestones.
As such, the Annual Reports are a fundamental accountability reference tool – everything is there for ratepayers to applaud, challenge or complain about. And required reading for incoming new councillors. All will be posted on councils’ websites in the coming week.
BayBuzz will look into these Reports more closely in the weeks ahead, as new councils begin to get their acts together.
It would be interesting to know which encumbents voted for/against which spending. Is there an easy way of finding that out? Minutes just seem to say “carried” or not
Hi Glen, unfortunately most council decisions never get to the point where votes are meaningful. Firstly, much that contentious is ‘worked out’ behind the scenes, usually in workshops, which councils are getting better at holding in open session. Secondly, councillors aware that their position is the losing one are loathe to press the vote in public unless it’s a matter of very important principle. Adding or subtracting $100k usually doesn’t make the grade! Thirdly, councillors feel pressure to act ‘collegially’ to keep the public assuaged … again unless a pitched battle has stirred the juices. Consequently, a full council meeting is one of the most boring, unenlightening events on the agenda. So you get the occasional ‘protesting’ speech, but hardly ever actual votes that separate the wheat from the chaff. Tom
Thanks Tom. It will be interetsing to see then if some of these new councillors pledging accountability and to vote against “wasteful spending” actually do stick their necks out.
Thanks Kirsten for pushing a whole lot of crap through before you were voted out. Richard, good luck with the clean up. We are rooting for you.
Tom, you forgot to mention any contentious issue they will ‘fail to mention’ in public until it’s past the point of no return. Case in point, based on NCCs PDP, drones and rural aircraft can fly over your house day and night ‘temporarily’. Mmm, spray and no privacy for you all. Plus you have no say to a 3-storey, 6-storey, childcare, prison reform or papakainga development happening next door. Thanks, Kirsten, see you next Tuesday to chat.