Cr Bill Faulkner Faulkners Corner www.sunlive.co.nz

The contentious issue of city council pay rates is being raised, again, with the acting chief executive Christine Jones.
With the draft annual plan for 2011/12 being sent out for your consultation/submission, it is an appropriate time for discussion, linked in with the upcoming permanent appointment of the new CEO.

It needs to be clear in ratepayer minds that elected members do NOT determine any rate of pay for any employee other than the CEO. The way the system works, as decreed by central government, is that council has only one employee and that is the CEO. Council then decides after public consultation and submission what will be done in the way of services in the coming year, strikes a rate to pay for it all and hands that to the CEO to implement. The CEO is the sole arbitrator of what resources are required to fulfil council's decisions. Elected members then monitor the progress on the annual plan as the year progresses. So the CEO alone decides what staff are required and how much they will be paid. Of course, in reality, there is a management team to whom responsibilities for various departments are delegated, but the responsibility is the CEO's and not elected members.

Council staff costs
Over the years I have regularly published salary bands and staff members. I'm not here to justify the realm – it has its own resources to do that, but it is a fact that you need people to make things happen. So it's staff, consultants for specialised work, and contractors who do it in Tauranga. Staff are easy to quantify, whereas consultants and contractors are much more difficult. Do you employ a staff member or do you engage a consultant? With many different requirements in what the city does it's a judgement call. Popular urban legend has it that consultants are expensive. They can be, but they can also be extraordinarily good value. Staff may appear to be a cheaper option, but I've also seen some hugely expensive outcomes from poor staff performance over the years. So here's an up-to-date summary of the staff at city hall.
There are now 506 full time equivalent employees (FTEs) at a total cost to you of $35,990,000 – up from $19,517,000 for 2004/05. Of this amount somewhere around 40-45 per cent is ratepayer funded. Average income is $69,800. 186 FTE receive up to $49,999, 243 FTE receive $50,000-99,999, 57 FTE receive $100,000-150,000 and 16, including CEO, receive over $150,000. The former CEO received $400,000.

The roles they play
Staff numbers have increased over the years with 32 being fixed term for a specific project and 15 with building compliance and inspection and other activities like the motor camp, cemetery, Historic Village being brought back in-house in recent years.
Increased levels of service in activities like the three waters (17 new FTE) since 2004/05 resulted in a total of 124.1 new FTE. That's a very brief outline and with the release of this year's annual plan it's timely for you to consider the plan and let us have your thoughts. Do we cut levels of service? Do we increase capital expenditure to progress services and amenities? But submissions need to be realistic and in my view it's unhelpful to demand this or that in general terms without being specific.
For instance you might say you don't mow parks and reserves so often, but you will accept that that may render the parks non-people-friendly.

Optimism on Route K
Negotiations continue on Route K debt.
We will need to be more innovative in the aftermath of the Christchurch earthquake as this will place unbudgeted demands on NZTA (formerly Transit) budgets.
We remain upbeat about a resolution to getting this debt ($55.9 million) off council's books.

Going with the majority
I've been lobbying staff to alter the timing of the lights on Chapel Street at the Harbour Central (Briscoes) intersection. In the past three months or so, priority goes to the traffic turning in and out of the shops. I'm not having a lot of success at present. My view is that if 90 per cent of the traffic is going straight ahead it should get 90 per cent of the green lights. At present it seems more like nine per cent. The hold ups getting through that series of lights compared to how it used to be must cost plenty to motorists. Years ago there used to be a tail in the morning peak almost back to Matua. I suggested putting out cones to double lane traffic coming into town, but that wasn't possible I was told. After months of frustration, Gordon Taylor and I arranged some cones and said we were going to do it anyway. The next week, cones were suddenly permitted and six months later they appeared on Waihi Road. If necessary I'll pay for an independent consultant to look at the Chapel Street situation.

Clean air is good air
Smoking is now banned at Baypark Stadium. It's time there was a blanket ban on smoking at all council facilities. If only on a cost basis – cleaning up and ongoing upkeep. Good on TCVL for taking this step.

Future in flight
Tauranga Airport will help contribute toward the budget reduction by delaying its planned baggage handling expansion until next year. Even though it's not ratepayer funded, the debt goes into the council's total debt. This will reduce the budget by around $1 million.
Work on a new apron to accommodate overnight passenger planes will continue. There are now three Q300 aircraft based at Tauranga.Their crews live here, 36 all told, and passenger numbers continue to climb – unlike some airports. Airport debt is a net $4 million at the moment, all non-ratepayer funded.
The draft annual plan shows a rate revenue increase of $10,099,000 or around 12 per cent. It is a draft and it's too high, at least for most ratepayers. So what gets cut out, not done, postponed or cancelled?
For a lot of ratepayers this is unaffordable no matter how desirable the various proposals may be. It is surprising to some that it has taken this long to reach what could be rating unsustainability.
Write and tell your elected members your views.