Council juggles money to balance books

Cutting operational expenditure by five percent is one of the measures Wanganui District Council supported yesterday to balance its budget.
It also favoured increasing parking fees, bringing in a projected revenue increase of between $134,000 and $158,000, and using a projected 2004-05 surplus for some one-off corporate management costs.
Council wants to seek this year's rates revenue of $29.9 million for the 2005-06 financial year too, but based on providing the same level of services was $1.7 million over budget.
Yesterday council resumed its decision-making on the draft 2005-06 annual plan, which will then go out for public consultation.
Chief executive Colin Whitlock said the management team's suggestion for balancing the budget was across the board operational savings of five percent. About $1.4 million less in rates revenue would be needed and council operations would be finely tuned.
Borrowing was already at the top end of the comfort level and there was an issue about the affordability of rates, Mr Whitlock said.
Corrections to the first cut of the 2005-06 budget generated savings: a double count in the roading budget generating $173,000 and $54,000 savings in the investments budget regarding a mistake about the roof of Community House.
Also, an extra $104,000 of revenue was expected from regulatory services (which looks after dog registrations, building consents etc).
Mr Whitlock said the 2004-05 surplus was projected to be about $450,000 (about one percent of spending), but care was needed as there was two and a-half months till the end of the financial year.
Council supported using about $300,000 of the surplus for upgrading the council chamber and turning it into a civic reception area, upgrading the level one foyer, extra costs associated with the three-yearly review of the long-term council community plan and those associated with the replacement of the chief executive.
The changes meant there would be enough money to cover emergency situations and opportunities that might emerge that would add value, Mr Whitlock said.
As managers started to go through their budgets outlining where they would make their five percent cut, it became clear in some cases this would translate into increased charges or cuts from capital expenditure.
For example, as the cemetery budget is nearly solely made up of a contract that does not have room for variation mid-term, the five percent cut would be made by increasing fees. Recreation and culture manager Keith Hindson acknowledged Wanganui's cemetery fees were already at the upper end of the bracket for New Zealand councils.