Council operating costs rank second lowest in NZ

The 2018 Ratepayers’ Report shows that the Kāpiti Coast District Council continues to perform strongly in terms of operating costs per ratepayer, ranking second lowest in the country for the second year running.

Mayor K Gurunathan says he’s pleased to see the Taxpayers’ Union report show the Council performing so well in terms of efficiency when it comes to the day-to-day costs of providing services across the District.

“The report shows that the Council is a fairly lean organisation when compared to other councils throughout New Zealand, which is consistent with our approach to spending less in order to pay back more and help keep rates affordable,” said the Mayor.

Chair of the Operations and Finance Committee Councillor Michael Scott says he’s comfortable with the report’s findings.

“Right now, our Council’s primary focus is to live within our financial means. Despite our operating costs being low we know we have some work to do to reduce our debt levels and we’re already taking steps to pay off our borrowings faster.

“For example, we’re using the majority of this year’s surplus to pay off debt. Over the 20 years of our long term plan we’ll be repaying almost $30 million.

“This does mean that we need to make some tough calls but it will ensure we can meet the needs of our communities both now and in the future,” Councillor Michael Scott said.

“Last year we reduced our capital programme by $7.5 million to reduce borrowing levels.”