Brian Anderson The Western Front www.sunlive.co.nz

The fisheries officer caught a movement deep in the lupins behind the sand dunes…it was Mary – still at it. There she was, with her three little kids, caught again.

She was only in court only two weeks earlier for very illegal numbers of toheroas. A frown crossed the officer's brow. The sacks were empty and an old hand mincer was mounted on a post. She turned, recognised him and grinned cheerfully as she handed him a full Agee jar, 'Count this lot.”
There is no doubt that if anything has to be hidden in local government, the best strategy is add more issues, more committees, more paperwork and then stir briskly. Under the 2010 Local Government Amendment, within two years council will have to produce a public pre election report (PER) following transparency accountability and financial management guidelines (TAFM). They are already starting to load the mincer.

Keeping it simple…

Before the elections in two year's time, the CEO of every district council has to have prepared a PER with detailed financial information on council's performance in meeting the targets for projects within their planned financial strategy. All details of the previous three year's income expenditure, loans, including internal loans and management of reserve funds will be outlined. As well, the report will include all planning and projects for the three years after the election to allow the public to follow and assess the performance of the council. This information will be in a standard format prescribed by the Governor General to allow the public and the government to compare the performance of councils.

…can be difficult…

If we can believe the WBOPDC's public statements, they already have it under control but there are a few worrying signs. The Act instructs council to keep water, sewerage and stormwater separate to be able to retain funding and expenditure record intact in each of these core services. Currently, the WBOPDC Annual Plan indicates the council's desire to amalgamate these accounts. A new requirement is for council's to assess risks and returns from investments. WBOPDC already has a risk management committee, but it does not have a separate internal audit function. In the Thames Coromandel District, their Audit Committee was very sensitive to the government's new requirements and has already has plans in place with action schedules outlining performance expectations and recording progress. All councillors and community boards are being supported and are contributing in what is hoped will be a smooth operation over the next two years. WBOPDC is only just getting started on their first workshops to try and develop a working system. It also has a number of other problems.

...very difficult

The statutory six year review of community representation and council structures with public consultation is also due by the next election. Already, the council has been in the gun at the Waihi Beach hearings over its problems with communication at board level. The council response is to pre-empt this process to an extent next year with a non-statutory representation review of community representation structures including the number of wards, ward boundaries and community boards. With the redesigning of all of the wards, the amalgamation of core services things don't look good for a clear comprehensible PER that tells the people where the money is coming from and where it is being spent. The mincer is loaded and the handle is starting to turn.