Long-Term Plan FAQs Hamilton City Council Long-Term Plan FAQs 1 Long-Term Plan Consultation Document Q What is the Long-Term Plan? It’s Hamilton City Council’s long-term vision for our city. It sets our priorities, budgets A and projects for the next 10 years. The Long-Term Plan carries the thoughts, aspirations and dreams of our community into action. Q How has the draft Long-Term Plan been developed? It’s been developed by Council working alongside our community to understand A what people in our city want for the future of Hamilton Kirikiriroa. We’ve used this feedback to develop five priorities – ‘Our Vision for Hamilton’, which Council will use to shape future decisions which will ensure Hamilton becomes one of the very best places in the world to live. Q What are the five priorities in the Long-Term Plan? A The five priorities for our city are: 1. A city that’s easy to live in 2. A city where our people thrive 3. A central city where people love to be 4. A fun city with lots to do 5. A green city. Q What is the consultation document? It’s a document summarising key elements of the draft Long-Term Plan. It outlines the A main issues and opportunities we will be faced with over the next 10 years that we want your feedback on. Q Where can I find more information? If you want to delve into more detail, there’s also heaps of supporting information at A futurehamilton.co.nz/links 2 futurehamilton.co.nz Q What other policies are you wanting our feedback on, as part of this Long-Term Plan consultation process? At the same time as this Long-Term Plan consultation, we are also after your feedback A on the following topics: • Revenue and Financing Policy futurehamilton.co.nz/rfpolicy • Development Contributions Policy futurehamilton.co.nz/dcpolicy • Growth Funding Policy futurehamilton.co.nz/gfpolicy Q What about the projects Council is proposing? Can we have a say on those and what are they? Yes, you can give your feedback on any project considered as part of Council’s A draft Long-Term Plan deliberations. You can see the full list of funded and unfunded projects at futurehamilton.co.nz/links. We also want any ideas that we may not have thought about for our city. Q What if I want to know about something that is not mentioned in the consultation document? A Email us at [email protected] and someone from our team will be in touch, or you can phone us on 07 838 6699. You can also message us on our Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn pages /hamiltoncitycouncil @hamiltoncitycouncil /company/hamilton-city-council Hamilton City Council Long-Term Plan FAQs 3 How do I have my say? Q How do I make a submission? Here’s a full list of how you can give us your feedback: A 1. Visit futurehamilton.co.nz 2. Send your thoughts to [email protected] 3. Post your written comments or completed submission form to Freepost 172189, Hamilton City Council, Long-Term Plan, Private Bag 3010, Hamilton, 3240. 4. We’ll be out and about across the city so come and chat to us at one of our pop up events. Check out where we’ll be at futurehamilton.co.nz/events 5. Message us on our Facebook, LinkedIn or Instagram pages. 6. You can also make a verbal or video submission on the Long-Term Plan through futurehamilton.co.nz Q When will I be able to give my feedback on the Long-Term Plan? You can have your say on the 2021-31 Long-Term Plan between 5 March 2021 to 7 A April 2021. Verbal submissions will be heard on 13 - 15 April 2021. Q I’m not a ratepayer, can I still have a say? Yes. Anyone can make a submission. If you live, work and play in Hamilton or even just A visit you use our services, facilities and infrastructure and we want to hear what you think about the Council’s plans for these. Q What happens once the consultation and submissions stages have finished? A The feedback you provide will help the Mayor and Councillors confirm the 2021-31 Long-Term Plan. The next stages of the Long-Term Plan’s development in 2021 will be: • 4 to 6 May – Mayor and Councillors consider all the feedback from the community • 24 to 25 June – Mayor and Councillors confirm the 2021-31 Long-Term Plan • 1 July – The 2021-31 Long-Term Plan is in place. Once the Long-Term Plan is in place, it will guide Council’s decision-making from 1 July 2021. Q How can I make sure I know what’s happening during consultation and the overall Long-Term Plan process? A You can register to receive updates at https://www.futurehamilton.co.nz/?signup. 4 futurehamilton.co.nz What’s driving the proposed changes? Q What are the main areas Council will be spending my rates on? Over the next 10 years we’re proposing to spend $3.7 billion on the ‘everyday’ A costs of running the city (rubbish and recycling collection; maintaining roads and footpaths, keeping sports parks and community facilities up to scratch and lots more). There’ll also be some capital projects related to playgrounds, footpaths, new infrastructure like roads and water pipes and new community projects like libraries and parks. Providing drinking water to your tap and managing wastewater and stormwater is another key area your rates need to cover. We also need to cater for what’s happening now and in the future in relation to city growth and the infrastructure needed around that. For more details on these and Council’s other costs, see the overview of our Financial Strategy in the draft Long-Term Plan Consultation Document or by going to futurehamilton.co.nz/finances. Hamilton City Council Long-Term Plan FAQs 5 Rates increases Q What is the overall rates increase? To address the challenges our city is facing over the next 10 years, and help deliver A what you’ve told us would make Hamilton Kirikiriroa even better, in 2021/22 we’re proposing a total average rates increase to existing ratepayers of 8.9%. This is made up of a 4.4% average increase to the general rate. We’ve also highlighted Council’s costs to help deliver work driven by central government in our water services and District Plan by taking funding out of what we collect from general rates and ringfencing it as a new targeted rate called the compliance rate. This is equivalent to a 4.5% average rates rise. After year one, the annual average rates increase to existing ratepayers would be 4.9% (made up of both the general and targeted rates) every year. The rates increases seek to balance affordability to ratepayers while tackling the challenges of being one of New Zealand’s fastest-growing cities. It also covers stricter water and planning compliance work required by central government. Q What does that mean for my property’s rates? You can check what the proposed impact on your rates will be for 2021/22 by going A to futurehamilton.co.nz and typing in your address. Q Is there any help available to me if I can’t afford the rates increase? Hamilton City Council is proud to offer low-income ratepayers a rates discount in A addition to the nationwide rates rebate supported by the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA). The DIA rates rebate takes into account the ratepayer’s income, the cost of their rates, and if they have any dependants to assess whether they qualify. The Council’s rates rebate considers additional criteria including financial assets and the ownership structure of the property. For more information on our rates rebates, go to hamilton.govt.nz/rates. 6 futurehamilton.co.nz Other rates changes and/or info Q How do our rates compare? Even with rates increases of previous years, Hamilton’s average residential rates have A remained lower than other growing cities and neighbouring councils. You can see how we compare with other councils in our graph on page 64 of the Consultation Document or by going to futurehamilton.co.nz/finances. Q How is Council proposing to save costs under the draft Long-Term Plan? We have budgeted for costs savings over the 10 years of the Long-Term Plan, with A a total value of $106 million. These savings are expected to be achieved mainly through: • Property savings – we plan to reduce our property costs by adopting new ways of working, including enabling more staff to work remotely, increasing use of community-based facilities and exploring opportunities to consolidate worksites. • Strategic procurement – we are in the process of changing the way Council contracts and buys various products and services. By doing so, we think we can negotiate better deals and reduce our costs. • Capital programme optimisation – we continue to improve the way that we deliver capital projects, resulting in lower delivery costs and ongoing costs. This is achieved through leveraging our scale, better aligning the timing and phasing of projects, and working in partnership with suppliers, developers and others. • Digital-enabled business transformation – we are embracing technology to improve our customer experience, our internal processes, and our business efficiency which we expect to deliver sustainable savings. Hamilton City Council Long-Term Plan FAQs 7 Projects, plans and strategies Q What are the key areas Council is focusing on within the Long-Term Plan – and why? A The community has told Council that they’d like to see progress in key areas including embracing the Waikato River, revitalising our central city and investing in easier and safer ways to get around Hamilton.