Central Otago News
WITH the pending Mayoralty elections almost upon us all, I thought it timely to ask a couple of questions to the Mayor and some questions for the Mayoralty candidates.
To Central Otago Mayor Malcolm Macpherson:
I see in the Otago Daily Times (August 28) the Central Otago District Council (CODC) rates are at the upper level compared to most other cities and towns in New Zealand. Please explain why this is and advise what extra facilities or services we get for the huge amount of rates we pay.
Now that the CODC has taken over most Molyneux Aquatic Centre activities and swim training, can the ratepayers get an indication of what extra income they are now producing, and can we now expect the ratepayer contributions to be reduced?
To CODC Mayoralty candidates:
What policies and procedures can be implemented to reduce our district's rates?
A huge amount of ratepayers money goes into promoting tourism in Central Otago. How can the ratepayers be assured they are getting value for money?
Is there a way unemployed locals can be allocated jobs before any outsourced workers are employed? Eg. seasonal workers, backpackers, Pacific Islanders. Locals will spend the money they earn close to home, out of town workers will take their monies home with them.
Trevor Dyke
Alexandra
My answer, for the Central Otago News of Thursday 9th September
Small local authorities fund all the facilities and services that underpin a successful community, but have fewer ratepayers than our city neighbours, so the costs for each of us are higher. In our peer group (similar size, lower South Island, growing strongly) we’re not exceptional. We could make some reductions by reducing standards of service. The areas where we could cut costs (pools and libraries for example) are also those which people value the most, and to make a material difference, the cuts would have to be severe. Most of our big-ticket spending is in areas where we have little or no discretion (depreciation, maintenance, insurance and so on).
Our pools budget for this year shows total income increasing from $1.596m to $1.827m. Fees and charges increase from $0.489m to $0.565m, and the contribution from rates from $1.099m to $1.258m – about 14% in both cases. We expect that new commercial opportunities will see the fees and charges revenue increase as a proportion of total income in future.
We spend less than 0.5% of our rate income on Tourism Central Otago. My understanding is that Kiwis usually get first preference when people take on seasonal workers.
196 words
Malcolm Macpherson
Monday, September 6, 2010