Council updates  |  18 Feb 2022

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With the COVID-19 pandemic causing challenges worldwide, Christchurch City Council staff are recommending some small adjustments are made to the city’s annual budget and work programme.

Staff will be presenting the Draft Annual Plan 2022/23 to the Mayor and Councillors next week. The plan outlines what the Council will spend on projects and day-to-day services over the next financial year and how these will be financed.

“Since our Long Term Plan (LTP) 2021–31 was confirmed last year, the economic environment in Christchurch has been affected by the same factors that the whole world is navigating as we live with COVID-19 – inflation, supply chain issues, productivity challenges and more,’’ says Council Chief Executive Dawn Baxendale.

“We also have significant Government reforms on the horizon. All this means the playing field is uncertain, but the changes we are recommending in our draft budget will give us the flexibility to respond as and when we need to.

“Our books are balanced and we are going to keep investing in doing the basics and doing them well whilst keeping costs as low as possible for our ratepayers. We have prioritised spending on our water supply network, our transport network and our facilities.

“Climate change adaptation is another important focus of this budget,” Mrs Baxendale says.

“We are in a changing environment and being realistic about what we can afford and deliver has been key to this draft Annual Plan. We have reviewed the whole capital programme with a laser focus on deliverability and affordability – if we’re not likely to be able to complete the work in 2022/23, there’s no need to charge the ratepayer for it at this stage.”

The main proposals in the Draft Annual Plan 2022/23 are:

  • An average proposed rates increase for a typical household of 4.82%. A typical house is one with a capital value of $508,608.
  • An overall average rate increase across all ratepayers of 4.92% – less than the 4.97% indicated in the LTP.
  • Operational expenditure – spending on everyday services such as rubbish collection – of $524.4 million. That is $9.5 million more than what was in the LTP.
  • Capital expenditure – spending on the construction of facilities and infrastructure – of $615.4 million. This is $72.4 million less than what was in the LTP.
  • Borrowing for the capital programme is $57 million less than planned.

If the budget is adopted by Councillors at their Thursday 24 February meeting, it will go out for public feedback from Friday 11 March to Monday 18 April.