Palmerston North City Council

Ensure debt policies are manageable for the ratepayer base.

Ensure rates are affordable for the local community.

Reduce unnecessary wasteful spending, including heavily reducing consultants fees.

Develop new revenue streams through ethical investment and local economic partnerships, reducing reliance on continual rate rises.

Implement a buy local first procurement policy so council spending supports local jobs, returns revenue locally and grows the economy.

Prioritise funding decisions that close inequality gaps, ensuring those most affected by council policy have their needs met first.

Keep rates increases as low as possible while protecting essential services.

Prioritise investment in infrastructure that delivers long-term savings.

Use council-owned land and assets to generate income where practical.

Ensure fees and charges are fair and applied fairly and avoid increasing debt wherever possible.

Manage ratepayer funds efficiently with strong in-house teams to reduce costly contractor use and boost long-term service value.

Prioritise practical council investments with strong long-term yield, backed by a cost-effective financial management strategy.

Challenge the blanket 3% rise in fees and charges year on year for planning and building services.

Include proactive debt repayment in annual budgets to keep a tighter rein on debt levels.

Move to a 50/50 split between LV and CV rating to more accurately reflect market value and avoid large fluctuations caused by land booms.

Continue to explore opportunities for third party funding to remove burden from ratepayers.

Ensure capital expenditure is well timed to maintain debt levels at a manageable level.

Ensure rates rises are sustainable for the community through deferring or removing projects that are low priority.

Change the way rates are distributed to reflect people's ability to pay as far as possible.

Explore external revenue sources such as government funding, trusts and philanthropic giving as a means of keeping rates affordable.

Review what services are levied fees and charges on and ensure they are fair and reasonable.

Agree to acceptable council debt as a percentage of revenue take with no ability to go beyond this figure.

Introduce an agreed maximum rate increase annually at CPI for the previous 12-month period, with core functions prioritised first.

Introduce more robust discussions and accountability around capital expenditure including a cost analysis of proposed spend.

Propose sensible reductions to council spending, such as reducing consultancy spend, which is currently over $13 million per year.

Reduce the council's debt cap, which is currently 250 per cent once water assets are vested into the new council-controlled water entity.

Review fees and charges on developments so that it is affordable to build in Palmerston North.

Complete the transition to capital value rating system and establish a targeted rate for urban properties left vacant or untenanted.

Reduce pressure on rates by implementing non-rates funding and finance tools, in consultation with community and stakeholders.

Support the establishment of the Local Government NZ Ratepayers Assistance Scheme, including Electrification Loans for Everyone.

Ensure the council's long term position is sustainable and that there is financial capacity and partnerships to fund future programmes.

Recognise inter-generational funding requirements and manage debt within defined levels.

Support timely provision of new infrastructure that builds capacity and enables the city to harness new development opportunities.

Build key infrastructure to enable more revenue opportunities from other councils through services like recycling and call centre.

Keep rates fair with establishing diversified revenue sources prioritised over rates increases.

Push to change rates back to land value rather than capital value, or 70% land and 30% capital to encourage investment into city developments.

Ensure rates are fair and affordable, with targeted relief for low-income households to ease cost-of-living pressures.

Manage council finances prudently by reducing unnecessary debt and prioritising sustainable investments.

Review fees and charges regularly to balance revenue needs without burdening essential community services.

Implement strong financial management practices to safeguard Palmerston North's future, focusing on sustainability and prudent budgeting.

Manage council debt responsibly, aiming to reduce it over time while ensuring essential services and infrastructure remain strong.

Reduce unnecessary rates hikes, ensuring fair and manageable rates for all Palmerston North residents while maintaining essential services.

Increase user fees and charges in some services so those on lower incomes are not subsidising services they do not use.

Introduce an affordability component in council policy that caps the maximum rates increase to the average wage increase in the community.

Limit council debt to ensure debt repayments are affordable in the future.

Respect ratepayers.

Ensure council debt is well managed and implement a genuine plan to reduce that debt.

Review council spending priorities and deliver value-for-money for ratepayers.

Diversify council revenue streams and introduce targeted user pays for non-essential services to reduce cost pressures on ratepayers.

Sell underused council assets and some airport shares to pay off debt and reinvest in key infrastructure.