Revenue and Financing Policy

Ōpōtiki District Council is keen to hear your thoughts on our draft Revenue and Financing Policy. We update this policy every three years as a part of the Long Term Plan process. You can read more about the 2024 - 2034 Long Term Plan here.

Every Council is required to adopt a Revenue and Financing Policy as outlined in section 102 of the Local Government Act (2002).

What is a Revenue and Financing Policy?

The purpose of this policy is to explain two things:

1. The activities and services Council delivers.
2. How Council plans to fund the expenditure (operational and capital) of these activities and services.

Council provides a number of activities and services to achieve the community priorities identified in our Long Term Plan. To do this, Council needs to spend money, and this spending is broken into two categories.

1. Operating expenditure. This is the day-to-day mahi required to deliver and maintain Council activities and services.
2. Capital expenditure. This is the cost involved in building or upgrading assets - think things like building, such as Te Tāhuhu o Te Rangi, and equipment, such as the Waste Water Treatment Plant.

What's new?

The first significant change in our draft Revenue and Financing Policy is our new activity structure. The purpose of this change is for two reasons:

• It reflects the activities and services Council does/delivers more transparently and accurately.
• It also reflects the funding mechanisms of each activity/service more transparently.

The desire for this is something staff have heard from both our elected representatives and from the public more generally.

The second change is that the policy is now informed by the Funding Needs Analysis (Appendix 1). This document is where the detail of each activity in the activity structure is broken down to explain the funding sources identified for that activity, and what level of funding they provide. This document ensures Council is compliant with section 101(3)(a) of the Local Government Act.

The third change is a move toward a more “user pays” system for our activities. This looks like an increase to fees/ charges and targeted rates, in order to offset impacts on the general rate.

This first went out for consultation in late 2023. Since then, changes in three waters legislation required updates to this policy by splitting three waters into its three separate activities (stormwater, wastewater, and water supply) rather than one, which is what originally was consulted on.

Tell us your thoughts!

Whenever the Revenue and Financing Policy is updated, it must go through public consultation that gives effect to the Special Consultative Procedure as outlined in Section 83 of the Local Government Act (2002).

Use the form below to make a submission on this policy.

Alternatively, you can collect physical copies of the draft policy and submission forms from our main office at 108 Saint John Street, Ōpōtiki. These can be returned to use by

• Sending it to Ōpōtiki District Council, PO Box 44, Ōpōtiki.
• Dropping a copy off to our main office front reception at 108 Saint John Street, Ōpōtiki.
• Emailing a copy to info@odc.govt.nz.