On the Agenda
Council’s Strategy, Policy & Finance Committee will tomorrow consider community feedback on the proposed delivery plan for Year 2 of the Long-term Plan and
LTP Year 2 delivery
The 2022/23 financial year is Year 2 of the 2021-31 Long-term Plan which was adopted last year following community consultation.
The Long-term Plan identified key priority areas (housing, enabling infrastructure, community safety, economic development and climate change) and set investment across the 10-year plan.
The report to the Strategy, Policy & Finance Committee tomorrow includes a summary and key themes identified from feedback received on the information/discussion document.
It recommends that the Committee recommend to Council to proceed to finalising its LTP Year 2 delivery plan for consideration and adoption on 30 June 2022.
The Year 2 plan is the link between the Long-term Plan and the annual setting of rates, setting the proposed annual programme and budget and identifying any financial variations from the Long-term Plan.
The Year 2 plan proposed for the 2022/23 financial year is consistent with what is set out in the Long-term Plan (LTP) but it has been noted there are a number of risks and challenges that are being actively managed in order to deliver the work programmes within the funding envelop set in the LTP.
The report to the Strategy, Policy & Finance Committee notes that as there was no proposed deviation for Year 2 from Council’s adopted LTP, consultation was not required but was undertaken in the interests of trust and transparency.
A total of 10 pieces of feedback were received.
Go to p13 of the meeting agenda (HERE) to view the full report on this matter.
Three Waters “better off” funding approach
The Committee is being asked to support application by Rotorua Lakes Council to the three waters “better off” funding package.
The Rotorua district is entitled to $8.05m in the first tranche of the fund and applications must be made by September 2022.
A report to the Committee notes that making an application does not bind the council to support the Three Waters reform, the report to the Committee notes. The Funding Agreement for the better off package does not prevent or prohibit councils from independently expressing their views of the reform programme.
It is recommended that the Strategy, Policy & Finance Committee recommends Council support an application to the first tranche of the Three Waters “better off” fund and that the Committee recommends Council supports the project evaluation and prioritisation approach proposed.
Background
In July 2021, the Government announced a $2.5billion funding package - $500m “No Worse Off” funding – designed to ensure that no local authority is financially materially worse off to provide community services as a direct result of the reform; and $2 billion “Better Off” funding – positioned as “funding to invest in the future of local government and community well-being, while also meeting priorities for central government investment”.
Details of the “No Worse Off” funding is to be announced at a later date as the transfer of assets and responsibilities as part of the 3 Waters Reforms begin.
The “Better Off” funding package is intended to be:
- An investment by the Crown into the future for local government and community wellbeing and to recognise the significance to the local government sector and the communities they serve of the transfer of responsibility for water service delivery.
- Better Off amounts for each local authority was determined using a formula based on population, land area and deprivation index score.
- The allocation for Rotorua Lakes Council is $32.19m in total, split into $8.05m in tranche 1 and $24.15m in tranche 2.
As it is not a contestable process, funding proposals submitted by councils will be assessed against defined priorities and criteria and accepted or rejected based on their alignment with these.
A subsequent update will be provided to the Strategy, Policy & Finance Committee in August.
A four-stage approach to an application for funding is proposed:
- Work with managers from around the organisation to identify significant planned or in-flight initatives from around the organisation that may be experience a funding shortfall;
- Screen projects against Council's criteria for obtaining additional funding;
- Assess short-list against the criteria set out in Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) guidance to ultimately prioritise which projects are most aligned with the fund;
- Complete the application based on results of steps 1 -3 and bring draft application to councillors for approval.
Once the shortlist of eligible projects has been compiled, the potential projects will be assessed against the criteria set out in the DIA guidance
As part of the application, “wellbeing assessments“ are also required to be completed for each of the proposed projects.
Go to p20 of the meeting agenda (HERE) to view the full report on this matter. The report includes outlining the fund criteria, application process and timeline, details regarding RLC’s approach to screening projects/initiatives for inclusion in application for funding.
Attachments with further information are available on Council’s website – see links below:
Attachment 1 - Three-Waters-Reform-Better-Off-Support-Package-Guidance-April-2022.pdf
Attachment 2 - Better Off Council FAQ Responses.pdf
Attachment 3 - DIA Pro-forma-Better-Off-Support-Package-Funding-Proposal-April-2022.pdf