Matt Cowley Tauranga City Councillor

Mayor Crosby opened this week's deliberations on our Long Term Plan by saying this budget has been the most prudent he's seen in a while.

Our LTP sets out what Tauranga City Council will do during the next 10 years and how we'll fund it.

We received about 700 submissions. But only a small number of submissions were about our rates and debt. This reflects the feedback I've received that council is keeping the city progressing within a prudent budget.

It sounds like people generally support for the direction we're heading, baring for a few tweaks here and there.

We're protecting what makes Tauranga special, while investing into projects that provide balance across the city.

Our focus is on managing a growing city. This reflects a two per cent increase of your rates next year to service growth-related infrastructure. An example includes finding $300,000 each year to fund the depreciation of the Domain Rd roundabout under the Tauranga Eastern Link.

It's great the New Zealand Transport Agency gifted the roundabout to the city, but few ratepayers know they have to fund the ongoing cost.

Ongoing costs of projects play a critical role in the business cases we demand on new projects.

We're also aware of some ‘known unknown' projects that are not factored into the LTP. These include council's future office building, the slow build-up of sewerage sludge at the Te Maunga treatment ponds, and a potential third harbour crossing in the long term future.

I wrote this column Tuesday evening, so I will write about our decisions this week in future columns.

Feel free to email me your thoughts (matt.cowley@tauranga.govt.nz), call/text me on 027 6989 548, and follow me at www.facebook.com/a.younger.voice.