Hawke’s Bay Regional Council proposes rate increase of 19.6pc; parks, tourism and sustainable homes funding on the chopping block

Hawke’s Bay Regional Council is proposing a rate increase of 54 per cent over the next three years, as well as deep funding cuts to regional parks, local tourism and a sustainable homes programme.

The community now has the opportunity to have a say on what they would like to see stay and go.

Councillors officially adopted documents providing the basis of the draft 2024-2027 Three-Year Plan for public consultation at an extraordinary meeting on Wednesday.

How much will regional council rates increase?

Regional council rates are proposed to increase on average by 19.6 per cent in 2024 and 18.1 per cent in 2025, before tapering off to 9 per cent in 2026 - a 54 per cent cumulative increase.

Earlier this year, Napier City Council staff recommended a 23.7 per cent average rates increase for the 2024 period, with a forecast of 10.5 per cent next year and 8 per cent for the 2026-27 year.

The regional council earlier in the year also announced a change to rate calculations, a major part of which was switching to using capital value (CV) instead of land value (LV) to calculate each property’s proportion of rates.

Homeowners, horticultural ratepayers or others with highly developed land “lose” and farmers or people with a lot of minimally developed land “win” under the new system, as CV accounts for the value of any buildings or infrastructure on the land, unlike LV.

If the preferred cuts are not adopted, the increase to average regional council rates over the next three years could be as high as 24.9 per cent, 21.1 per cent and 11.8 per cent, or a 69.1 per cent cumulative increase.

Hawke's Bay Regional Council gave examples of how different types of properties in different areas would be affected by rates increases in a draft consultation document. Photo / Hawke's Bay Regional Council

What will the council cut?

The proposed cuts are laid out in a section titled ‘Tough choices- have your say’ in the draft consultation documents for the council’s Three Year Plan 2024 - 2027.

Staff prefer an option to cut funding for maintenance of regional parks, currently $1 million, by a total of 60 per cent over the next three years and to stop the regional council’s annual contribution of $120,000 to the Te Mata Peak Trust for three years.

The council would also need to defer contributing towards development costs for the Ahuriri Regional Park project until 2027-28, defer development of Wairoa Regional Park to focus on developing the $70 million flood mitigation scheme in Wairoa and defer all new capital works on cycleways - aside from $50,000 per year for safety improvements and existing externally funded projects.

Pekapeka Regional Park, damaged after Cyclone Gabrielle, is one of the regional parks that would get its maintenance budget slashed in a Hawke's Bay Regional Council proposal. Photo / NZME

Hawke’s Bay Tourism is also pegged as a target for cuts, with the council staff looking at reducing funding over two years before completely stopping it, in their preferred option.

The Clean Heat and Sustainable Homes programme, which has offered ratepayers financial assistance and loans to eligible ratepayers for clean heating and insulation, double glazing and more since 2009, is also on the chopping block.

The preferred option is to stop the programme from July 2024, stating that the programme had been successful but now other providers offer similar assistance.

A proposed reduction in funding available through the Erosion Control Scheme, which is a subsidy to incentivise landowners to undertake erosion control work, would see the current funding of $3.4 million per year drop to $2 million in 2024-25 before rising again to $2.5 and $3 million in the years after that.

The reason for the cut is the significant additional costs incurred by landowners since Cyclone Gabrielle, reducing demand for the Erosion Control Scheme.

Finally, council staff want to continue a slowdown of biodiversity and biosecurity programmes that began after Cyclone Gabrielle, aiming to bring funding back above pre-cyclone levels after three years.

In 2023-24, the council reduced those programmes’ budget, which includes pest management, planting and fencing, by about $1 million to reprioritise the money into cyclone recovery.

Hawke's Bay Regional Council chair Hinewai Ormsby and her fellow councillors agreed to send 2024-2027 Three Year Plan documents for public consultation. Photo / Hawke's Bay Regional Council

How to have your say

Community consultation is open from April 15 until 8pm, May 15 and feedback can be submitted online through the regional council website, email, post or hand delivery to regional council buildings in Napier, Waipawa and Wairoa.

Drop-in sessions to discuss the draft Three Year Plan with councillors in Napier are on April 17 from 12pm to 2pm at a pop-up on the corner of Emerson Street and Market Street, May 8 from 5pm to 7pm at the regional council chambers, 159 Dalton Street, and May 9 from 1pm to 3pm at the Taradale Town Hall.

The regional council plans to adopt the Three Year Plan on June 26 after public consultation, hearings and deliberation.

James Pocock joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2021 and writes breaking news and features, with a focus on environment, local government and post-cyclone issues in the region. He has a keen interest in finding the bigger picture in research and making it more accessible to audiences. He lives in Napier. james.pocock@nzme.co.nz