Public toilets and rubbish bins are just some of the casualties of Tasman District Council’s latest attempt to cut costs.
The council is facing a $2.9 million overspend this financial year for the maintenance of community infrastructure.
On Thursday, elected members narrowly voted to limit that overspend by $150,000 by cutting back on some of its services for the remainder of the financial year.
The decision received immediate backlash from residents on social media when it was announced by the council on Friday.
Council’s waters and waste activities make up 80% of the overspend, but there was little opportunity to cut those costs which primarily consist of reactive maintenance – things like repairing leaks.
Further cost savings would risk the council’s ability to meet drinking water standards and so only about $10,000 of ground keeping work will be saved from the council’s water work.
Instead, it’s the council’s parks and transport areas where most of the savings have been found.
Some rubbish bins and doggy-doo bag dispensers will be removed from reserves, some public toilets will be cleaned less frequently with three others temporarily closed, while shrub maintenance and bedding displays will be reduced, collectively saving about $22,000.
The three toilets to close are one of the old long drops at the Wai-iti Domain, an aging toilet at the Wakefield Recreation Reserve, and the small block at Jubilee Park next to the football clubrooms.
As for transportation, rural roadside mowing will stop except for areas where growth limits sightlines and becomes a safety issue, and urban landscape mowing will stop.
Street sweeping will also be reduced in frequency, with commercial areas like the centre of Richmond and Motueka, which will go from being swept weekly to fortnightly.
Main roads like Salisbury and Champion will fall from fortnightly to monthly, while other areas which are currently swept quarterly will drop to three times year, effectively skipping their final sweep of this financial year.
Collectively, those changes will save about $122,000.
Elected members divided
The measures divided elected members, with six of 14 voting against the proposal.
Councillors Jo Ellis and Glen Daikee thought the conversation about reducing those costs was important, but that it should be had during the upcoming annual plan process which would give residents an opportunity to have a say, especially given the relatively small size of the potential savings.
“I think it’ll have a really big impact on the community, seeing those levels of service drop without being consulted on it,” Ellis said.
She also raised concerns about reducing street sweeping in autumn when drains are filled with leaves.
“If we have a decent rainfall, the effect of that could be quite substantial given the minimal amount of savings.”
Councillor Mark Greening added that “the real cost pressure for this council is staff costs”.
He reckoned that reducing staffing levels by the equivalent of 50 full-time staff could save the council $40 million over the next decade.
“If we did this, we probably wouldn’t need to seek toilet closures, or cleaning and mowing reductions.”
However, councillor Christeen Mackenzie said that it was important to cut costs in the face of the overspend, which would be funded by debt and impact future council decisions.
“We’re facing a significant deficit in the current financial year.”
‘No real savings, just more degradation’
A council Facebook post from Friday afternoon announcing the changes received widespread backlash from the community.
Commenters called the decision “absurd”, “a joke”, “ridiculous,” and an “insult to ratepayers”.
“Now people can go toilet in the bushes at the park, leave their dog doo everywhere on the ground, and just throw their rubbish on the ground instead of putting it in the bins,” read one comment.
“No real savings, just more degradation of our public areas,” another said.
Councillor Brent Maru said that the council should continue trying to reduce spending.
“The expectation is that every team is still looking to reduce expenditure in this current year.”
In future, he wanted council staff to present elected members with cost saving options earlier in the financial year to prevent further overspending.
All the reduced levels of service will be considered on a longer-term basis through the council’s upcoming annual plan process.
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