Napier Mayor outlines her vision for savings in effort to limit rates rises

Napier Mayor Kirsten Wise says some tough decisions have had to be made in order to keep rate rises down. Photo / Napier City Council

Declaring a state of emergency is one thing Kirsten Wise does not want to do if she is elected for a third term as Napier Mayor.

“I’ve had to do that twice now, it would be nice to have a term without that,” Wise said.

The first was the href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/napier-flooding-more-than-100-homes-uninhabitable-as-civil-defence-assesses-properties/WODOHLREUB3STV6G3DHUMRA3LE/" target="_blank">Napier floods in November 2020 and the second Cyclone Gabrielle in February 2023.

Wise said if she was elected for her a third term in the October elections, her focus would be providing stability for the community.

“My first two terms have been pretty rocky,” she said.

“I would also delve into the long-term plan. We can’t do everything, there’s only a certain amount of money and we want to use it in the most cost-efficient way we can.

“The biggest project will be the Civic Precinct – which will house the library and governance facilities.”

Wise said she knows the community was upset with the proposal to temporarily close the library.

“We have had to make some tough decisions and I acknowledge that it’s not ideal,” she said.

“The primary reason for the proposals is cost savings.

“We have seen a big increase in anti-social behaviour around the library and are paying full-time security guards.

“The key this year has been to keep the rates rise as low as possible. Last year the increase was just under 20%.

“It was a bitter pill to swallow and ratepayers made it loud and clear we needed to find savings. I sat down with the team, and we have all worked hard to bring it down from the projected 15.9% to 7.9%.”

Other cost-saving proposals are the reimagining and commercialising of the council’s assets, including the National Aquarium of New Zealand and the Napier isite.

“The aquarium as it stands is costing ratepayers $1.5 to $2m a year. I’m very open to options but the status quo is not one of them.

“In fact all the facilities we are proposing to reimagine are topped up by rates, except Par 2 Mini Golf.

“It’s all aimed at keeping rates down. If ratepayers want more savings from us that will come at the cost of core services.

“That’s a pretty big thing and needs to be consulted on. It would affect things such as parks and reserves, perhaps rubbish collection reduced to fortnightly, less road maintenance, etc.

“Not so many beautiful flowers in our gardens. It all comes at a cost.”

In her first term as mayor, the focus was on water infrastructure.

“From 2019 to 2022 we made huge investments into water: waste, storm and drinking. We got rid of the dirty-water issue.

“We also resurrected the War Memorial, which was special.

“This term it’s been all about getting back to basics. Looking at our facilities, investing at an appropriate level, for example, the $5m to Napier Aquatic Centre. This will ensure it lasts another eight to 10 years and gives us time to make decisions about building a new aquatic centre.

“Cyclone recovery has been huge. Not just infrastructure but working with the community and Civil Defence on resilience plans, training staff so we have the right level of expertise and working on streamlining our systems.”

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.