Draft Annual Plan 2026/27

The Buller District Council made decisions last week impacting the forecast 9.05% rates rise outlined for 2026/27 in the 2025-2034 Long-Term Plan.

At a meeting on Wednesday, council decided not to set aside approximately $1.3 million for future roading requirements, but to stick with the current process which is to borrow funds whenever that infrastructure (roads, bridges, and pavements) needs work.

Putting reserves in place for future roading requirements were recommendations applicable to all councils from the Office of the Auditor General and in the Local Government Act 2002.

Ms Crichton says: “This decision has a significant impact on the proposed rates increase for 2026/27, bringing it down significantly from what was decided in the 2025-2034 Long-Term Plan. Staff are still finalising the actual amount of the reduction.”

Councillors also approved the purchase of a new budgeting and reporting tool to replace the current financial modelling system.

Group Manager Corporate Services Lesley Crichton says: “The new system will enable managers to input budgets directly, so the data does not need to be double-handled. This will reduce the risk of errors and omissions.

“We will also be able to compare financial years, apply changes automatically, calculate projects, capital and operating expenditure, and revenues within the same software; and produce rate projections quickly.

“This system will be a much-needed step forward for council to calculate budgets and rates for the Long-Term Plan, Annual Plan, Annual Report, and monthly accounts.”

The software purchase is expected to be $103,036, with ongoing annual licensing costs of $96,000. Including this in the Draft Annual Plan 2026/27 budget equates to a 0.44% rate increase in 2026/27.

Council will adopt the Draft Annual Plan 2026/27 on 1 April, which will include the finalised budget and proposed rates increase. Consultation on the Annual Plan 2026/27 will open on Tuesday, 7 April and close on Tuesday, 5 May 2026.

Disclaimer
The information in this media release was correct at the time of publication. Changes in circumstances after the time of publication may impact on the accuracy of the information.

Buller District Council (BDC) discussed a revised draft budget for the Annual Plan 2026/27 at its public workshop this week

The revised budget proposes an average rate increase of 9.05% for the coming financial year (1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027), which is in line with the forecast 9.05% increase in the 2025-2034 Long-Term Plan (LTP).

The first version of the draft budget presented to council last month suggested a 15.63% rate increase.

Staff reviewed the budget, reduced costs, and generated additional income across several areas to match the LTP-forecasted rate increase. The biggest cost reduction was achieved in the Westport wastewater/stormwater separation project, which will separate stormwater from wastewater that is currently jointly discharged into the stormwater network from private properties.

This multi-year project will begin in 2026, was approved as part of the LTP 2025-2034 and is required to renew Westport’s wastewater consent.

Other areas where costs were able to be reduced were delaying recruitment, spending less on legal advice, reducing infrastructure repairs and maintenance, reducing vehicle insurance premiums, and undertaking currently contracted-out roading services internally.

Additional income will be generated by selling vehicles and council property, and by increasing the income paid to council by Buller Holdings Ltd. Overall, the additional income, combined with the savings, totals $1.52 million that will be shaved off the Annual Plan 2026/27 budget.

Group Manager Corporate Services Lesley Crichton says: “The savings mean the council can continue delivering core services to the community, but the lean budget and staffing levels mean progress on some initiatives and projects will be slower.”

In the infrastructure space, projects have been drawn out to spread the costs and associated depreciation. The reduction in infrastructure repairs for 2026/27 increases the risk that the current infrastructure could fail sooner, and repairs could cost more than being proactively fixed.

Staff highlighted that external factors, such as reforms and legislative changes, will create additional work for council, and that the current budget and staffing levels will not resource this additional work.

Ms Crichton says: “The budget is a very lean representation of what council needs to provide key services to the community. It doesn't allow big projects to move quickly or for additional work to be done, and it will mean slowing down in certain areas.”

“This budget is a fine balancing act of having just enough to keep the district running and acknowledging the risk that comes with this lean approach.”

Debt is expected to be around $47 m, compared to the $50 m estimated in the LTP.

If council includes the purchase of new software to produce more robust financial forecasting, and if it opts to co-fund 40% ($3.49 m) of the cost of integrating Westport’s stormwater system into the flood protection, the rate increase would be 10.1%.

Ms Crichton says: “We have used the information we have at hand to calculate costs, but there are also unknown external factors that will impact interest rates and commodity prices.”

“We priced these as best we could in developing the budget. Still, given the current unpredictable global situation, including the unrest in the Middle East, the reality could look very different in the near future. It could mean we have to manage significantly higher costs to deliver what we are promising to the community.”

Council will adopt the draft Annual Plan 2026/27 in early April, which will include the finalised budget and proposed rates increase.

Consultation on the Annual Plan 2026/27 will open in April and close in early May 2026.

Disclaimer
The information in this media release was correct at time of publication. Changes in circumstances after the time of publication may impact on the accuracy of the information.

Buller District Council (BDC) held its first public Annual Plan 2026/27 workshop on Wednesday as it continues to develop a draft budget for the Annual Plan 2026/27.

The draft budget currently proposes an average rates increase of 15.6% for the coming financial year (1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027), compared to the forecasted 9% increase in the 2025-2034 Long-Term Plan (LTP).

Key drivers behind this are a 37% increase in energy costs, 19% increase in staffing costs, 10% increase in repair costs, and 28% increase in software maintenance. Forecasted operational expenditure has increased by $1.27 m overall.

While staff numbers have increased, consulting costs are forecast to decrease by $182,226 for the next financial year. Part of the increase in staffing costs was due to an error in the cost calculation used for the LTP.

Group Manager Corporate Services Lesley Crichton says: “Council staff have rigorously reviewed the budget and examined each area for potential cost savings. Since there were errors in previous budget calculations, we have gone right back to the base figures to present correct estimates for the coming financial year.”

Debt is expected to be around $48 m compared to $50 m estimated in the LTP.

Ms Crichton outlines: “Staff have done a lot of work to reduce the budget and have presented options for areas where expenses could potentially be reduced further to councillors for discussion.

“We are continuing to work through multiple options of how we can reduce the rates further, and staff will continue to see what further reductions can be made.”

Councillors discussed other options for increasing council revenue and reducing expenses in the future to keep rates increase down. Councillors requested that staff present a way forward to keep the rates increase to the predicted 9% increase in the 2025-2034 Long-Term Plan (LTP).

Council will come together mid-March to further discuss the draft budget and next steps.

A key issue, open to community feedback, will be whether the council should co-fund $3.49 m for the integration of Westport’s stormwater system into the flood protection currently being constructed by the West Coast Regional Council. The draft rates increase and debt level does not include the $3.49 m in co-funding.

This Annual Plan forms year two of the 2025-2034 Long-Term Plan (LTP). The Annual Plan sets out council’s priorities for the financial year 2026/27.

Consultation on the Annual Plan 2026/27 opens on Monday, 30 March 2026 and will close on Thursday, 30 April 2026.

Disclaimer
The information in this media release was correct at time of publication. Changes in circumstances after the time of publication may impact on the accuracy of the information.