The Annual Plan process to set a budget and work programme for 2026-27 moved to the next phase this week, with another workshop.

Councillors were last week given a global view of the budget being proposed for the next financial year, and had the opportunity on Tuesday to start asking about that expenditure in more detail. They didn't hold back.

There's a lot for Councillors to get their heads around during the making of a plan, including the different types of rates that are applied, the uniqueness of local government accounting, and how the contents of the Revenue and Financing Policy influence decisions.

They must also think about things like the cost of interest if Council needs to borrow money to undertake capital work, and the rules around spending from reserve funds built up in some activity areas. It's fairly complex, and in the end a balancing act between what Council must do by law and what the community needs or expects.

While we talk of an average rate rise, the reality is that rates depend on where you live and the services you receive.

At the next Annual Plan workshop, Council staff will model how the proposed increase will affect different properties and then Councillors see the impact their decisions have on that rates number.

There are several more workshops to come as we all work toward a final draft plan, some time mid-March.
Councillors will then decide how the plan will be shared with the community and ultimately, a final plan will be adopted by the end of June.

So, there was a lot of debate and while aspirations exceeded resources at times,  the drive to run a large organisation like Council as efficiently as possible was very clear.

All these workshops are recorded and open to the public.