Manawatū-Whanganui regional council to make 'trade-offs' ahead of rates caps

A regional council is warning communities to brace for budget cuts and project changes, even before the Government's rates cap mandate comes into effect.

High inflation and incoming rates capping meant Horizons Regional Council would need to make "trade-offs" to fund new and continued services in Manawatū-Whanganui, chairwoman Nikki Riley said.

Through various workshops for its 2027-37 draft Long-term Plan (LTP), the regional council found that in order to meet the July 2029 2-4% rates cap announced by the Government earlier this year, it would need to apply its own caps in the coming years.

"Council is currently working towards an average rates increase of between 5% and 6% for 2027-28, then between 2% and 4% in 2028-29," Riley estimated.

For the 2026/27 financial year, the regional council voted in a total rates increase of $4.2 million, or 5.9% – initially voting to keep the increase below 5%, but changing this figure due to additional projects in the Annual Plan.

On Tuesday, Riley said the council proposed to increase spending in areas like biosecurity, river management and emergency management, often to meet legislated requirements set by the Government.

But to "balance the books", other operational budgets and projects had to be reduced.

Potential reductions didn't mean the work wasn't important for the region, Riley said, but it reflected a reality where the council had to make trade-offs to deliver what communities required.

Council was proposing to reduce the operational budgets within areas such as climate change, the Sustainable Land Use Initiative (SLUI) to prevent erosion, science and contestable funds.

Riley said they'd also proposed "not to progress the public transport regional services review, and to not fill some vacancies, which would result in a level of service reduction for some areas, including Rural Advice and District Advice".

The public could have their say on 2027-37 LTP proposals during a consultation process next March and April, and were welcome to contact Horizons councillors.

Riley said regardless of the outcome of Saturday's general election or decisions made through ongoing local government reforms, the LTP needed to deliver positive results for Horizons residents.