The ability to "opt-out" was gone. Then it came to light this decision had been made in June 2021 before the eight-week consultation period for councils to provide feedback to central government. This made a complete mockery of their so-called consultation, and robbed us of our chance to share our community's concerns.
Now we have received a letter from the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) inviting us to apply for the first tranche of Three Waters "better off" funding. Like all offers that appear too good to be true, the devil is in the detail.
What exactly is "better off" funding? In July 2021, at the Local Government New Zealand Annual Conference, the Prime Minister announced a $2.5 billion package to support local government transition through Three Waters reform.
This is made up of a $500 million "no worse off" component to manage the financial impacts of reform and a $2 billion "better off" component. This is for councils to invest in the future of local government, urban development and the wellbeing of their communities.
As you can imagine, this funding has been met with a high level of scepticism, both by councils and the community, with claims it is simply a bribe to entice councils to jump on board the reform train.
The letter that arrived from the DIA last month invited councils to apply for the first tranche of funding, being $500m of the "better off" component. The remaining $1.5b of this funding will not be available until July 2024, after the 2023 central government elections.
Of course the letter included a legally binding agreement councils must sign as part of the application process.
Looking at the agreement, it is very one-sided. First, it includes the ability for DIA to terminate the agreement if they believe a council is damaging the Government's - or DIA's - reputation. I wonder, does this extend to a council opposing the proposed reform model? Does this extend to any degree of non-co-operation in the implementation of the proposed reform?
In my view this removes our democratic right to oppose the reform. Essentially, it gags us from publicly speaking out against them.
The agreement also includes a clause I believe thinly disguises an attempt to procure councils' co-operation for the proposed reform model, through data provision and staff secondment.
The clause says the funding recipient – councils - will work with the Government in connection with the Three Waters Reform programme. This is supported by a schedule that expressly requires collaboration and co-operation with the DIA to provide for the implementation and carrying out of the programme, including any request for the secondment of an unspecified number of staff. This will be at the cost of the council's existing work meeting the needs of our community. That is because the agreement commits staff resources to help with the transition to this new centralised model.
On top of that, the Three Waters Reform National Transition Unit has already been established. As it gears up, there is a very real risk council staff will be poached to work for them.
The same schedule restricts how councils manage their Three Waters infrastructure, including preventing any new contract for the delivery of water services or borrowing of money that extends beyond June 30, 2024. This restricts councils to a two-year timeframe for planning and investing in their water infrastructure - another roadblock to our community's aspiration to work towards being chlorine-free.
Councils have until September 30, 2022 to apply for the first tranche of "better off" funding and we need to review the obligations and consequences we are signing up for before entering into a binding contract.
Napier City Council will certainly not be signing any agreements or accepting any funding until we are confident our community will indeed be better off.
• Kirsten Wise is Napier Mayor.
