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

At a full council meeting on Wednesday, the new committee structures were confirmed.
David Stewart will chair Strategy and Policy, I will chair Projects and Monitoring, Murray Guy will chair Wastewater Management, and Wayne Moultrie will chair Hearings.

Chairmanship of Tangata Whenua will be decided in conjunction with Maori. The number of committees is reduced from last term in an effort to streamline the governance process. In a new-found spirit of cooperation, all elected members have been placed on committees of their choice, discussion was rational and the meeting progressed smoothly.

Working together
Larry Baldock and Murray Guy both noted we had previously discussed options in a workshop and that councillors were working well together. Things are certainly looking up so far, and the bad old days of yesteryear, with ‘non-establishment' councillors being shut in the broom cupboard, are long gone. It seems that with no ‘tickets' on council, members don't feel bound by a ticket mentality. We are all critically aware of our responsibilities, particularly in the finances stakes, to our community during the next three years.
Arataki Community Centre was given the green light and final plans were approved. Community leaders spoke of a new spirit over there, too, as a consequence of this project.

Sludge removed
Elected members heard that during the election hiatus a decision was taken regarding the removal of sludge from Pond # 1 at Te Maunga Wastewater Plant. Estimates of 3000 tonnes were inaccurate and in fact 7500 tonnes needed to be removed, while the pond was still operating. Wastewater and sludge keep on coming with no respect or respite for mortal schedules.
Following on from last week's column, elected members' workshops on council financial overview, growth and infrastructure and Tauranga city centre, summarised where our city is at. Staff outlined the current financial position, financial history, projections and the likely future situation.

Well managed money
The presentation confirmed, once again that the city's finances are well managed. They are under careful scrutiny and control through the reporting systems required by law. Here are some of the relevant facts: Every $900,000 put on to rates raises the rates bill by 1 per cent. Council administers $3.5 billion of total assets. (Some of these ‘assets' are in fact liabilities as an asset is something that could be sold) Nett debt is $310 million.
The major problem with this debt is that while it is low compared to the strong asset base – around 10 per cent - it is high relative to the revenue base. This year council collected $81.9 million in rates and $52.3 million in other revenue which saw the trend away from user fees back towards rates continuing. This is a consequence of past council reluctance to increase user fees in line with CPI and actual cost increases. You get nothing for nothing, so if you don't charge adequately, up go the rates to maintain the same levels of service.

City expands
A total of 516 new properties were added to the city last year, an increase of 1.2 per cent. Average rates were $1640 – plus the regional council rate + GST. Rates contribute 12.5 per cent to transportation (about $10.2 million), wastewater 15.7 per cent (about $12.85 million), stormwater 9.4 per cent (about $7.7 million), Open and Indoor Space 16.4 per cent (about $13.5 million). There is a debt retirement component of $3.5 million included in your rates designed to reduce overall debt, which amounts to about $70 per rate bill average.

Plans for Route K
Council is anticipating/planning/negotiating to transfer Route K to NZTA in 2011/2012 which will take about $55 million off council accounts. This debt is not rate-funded. It is ‘front end loaded' – that is, the ongoing interest is added to debt, less nett income. Staff salaries amount to $31.4 million, finance costs amount to $23.8 million and depreciation a whopping $35.4 million. This amount includes allowance for principal repayment of loans. If depreciation had not been funded in cash over the past five years, debt would have been $107 million higher. Unbelievably, there are a few councils still not funding depreciation and Wanganui is one that was mentioned. In my view, this is short term gain for long term pain. Capital expenditure for 2010 was $90 million on new assets and infrastructure, exclusive of vested assets which are paid for by developers and transferred to council ownership. That's a brief summary of how council balances the ongoing demands of a growing city. For the future, council will be looking at slowing infrastructure growth until there is an economic upturn.

City tour continues
Elected members continued their tour of inspection of the area and visited the Mount Greens project on Totara Street. Nearing completion along with the new Cosmopolitan Club the greens will be handed over to the clubs shortly. The new Indoor Sport and Exhibition Centre at Baypark is progressing steadily. This will bring a new dimension to life in Tauranga. It truly is a milestone for leisure activity and will have an even greater positive effect for our city than the QEII did when it opened 50 years ago.

Choosing a CEO
The process for the new chief executive appointment continues. Under the PC regime in which we now exist, the process is as important as the appointment, to ensure everyone's 'rights” are acknowledged. We are in the market for a new chief executive along with Hamilton and Dunedin, which are similar-sized cities. This is a key appointment. The Local Government Act of 1989 and 2002 wrested all the power from politicians and passed it to the chief executive. The future of Tauranga will be hugely influenced by the new appointment. It will be the single most important decision this council will make this term.