Council to consider shutting libraries and cutting swimming pool hours to avoid 18% rates rise

Tuesday, 17 October 2023

Christchurch City Council is in “shit creek” financially and cuts to libraries and swimming pools are on the cards as it tries to avoid an 18% rates increase.

Mayor Phil Mauger told The Press on Monday there are going to be some “seriously unhappy people”, but the council will have to make some hard decisions.

“We are in shit creek financially, in my view - deep shtuck.”

Councillors will hear the full extent of cuts proposed by council staff at a private briefing on Tuesday.

Mauger said he did not know the full details, but said some smaller libraries might have to close “for a while”.

Swimming pools might also have their hours reduced, some new water mains might not be put in, roading work might be delayed and cycleways could be on the chopping block.

“That is a sad indictment of what’s going to happen but if we don’t, we are going to be in trouble. We have got to stop spending dough.”

Mauger said the council’s debt had risen to about $2 billion. To help put that into context for people, he asked his former bank manager to calculate the repayments at 4% interest over 15 years.

“The repayments are $340 … a minute, or $15 million a month.”

You can double that, if you take into account the $2b of debt the council’s investment arm, Christchurch City Council Holdings, has got, Mauger said.

The council is in the midst of developing its 10-year budget, the long term plan (LTP), and Mauger said as it stands the council is looking at an 18% rates increase next year.

“We are in a financial dilemma and if we don’t start cutting our cloth, this is the LTP that is going to make or break us.”

But Mauger was adamant 18% was not going to happen.

“There will be service cuts. There has to be.”

He said the extent of the proposed cuts would be made public “as soon as we can”, but he did not know when.

“They won’t be hidden, that is for sure. We have to consult.”

One service he said would not go was his pet project, the roving pothole crew, which cost about $2m a year, half of which is funded by the government.

When asked if asset sales would be needed, Mauger said the council had to look at every single way to save money.

He declared during last year’s election campaign that he would not sell assets.

Mauger also blamed the former Labour Government for the financial situation the council was in.

“For the last six years we have been a quietly sinking ship with the Government throwing us more and more stuff to do but giving us less and less money to do it with.”

He was talking about local government reforms, housing intensification and three waters reform.

The government could start paying rates on its buildings, which would help the council’s finances, he said.

Mauger did not name any libraries that could close but said the city had some fantastic libraries, like Halswell’s, which is also a community centre and has an outdoor pool. But he said there were also smaller libraries that were just a “building with some books in”.

Some of those libraries were not far away from other libraries, he said.

“Do we shut that library and have the mobile library going around more? I don’t know. People can always get on public transport and go to the really good libraries if they want to.”

The council decided earlier this month to rebuild South Library and Service Centre at a cost of $32.75m. The council has $22.6m of funding set aside and needs to find an additional $10m.

When asked if that development would still go ahead, Mauger said the library was the second busiest in the city and was also a cafe, service centre and community board meeting room, so had a number of uses.

He said the council needed to find that $10m from within its budget. It could not be new money.