Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
Gisborne Mayor Rehette Stoltz is "extremely concerned" about a proposed policy change that will make it harder for councils to access emergency funding for roading during emergencies.
In a meeting on Wednesday, a Gisborne District Council committee agreed to key messages of opposition against NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA)'s review of its Emergency Works Investment Policy.
The proposed changes will raise the bar for when councils can access NZTA funding for emergency weather events. It will shift the qualifying weather event from a minimum one-in-10-year event to a one-in-20-year event.
"We should be really worried about this," Stoltz said. "What we are seeing is a cost transfer, from NZTA to us."
Under the proposal, funding assistance rates would drop from 20 to 10 percent, which means councils would have to pay a bigger proportion of emergency roading costs.
Furthermore, extreme weather events, labelled as bespoke events, will have limited provisions from NZTA and require specific Crown funding.
NZTA is proposing the change due to the significant increase in scale, intensity, and cost of extreme weather events. NZTA will gain a potential savings of $35 million to $45m annually from these changes, the policy review report said.
Stoltz said Gisborne had just done its three-year plan, using certain assumptions.
"So we are asking [NZTA] if they are going to go through with these changes if they can push it out," Stoltz said.
Council chief executive Nedine Thatcher Swann said they would need to revisit their budget if the policy change was confirmed.
"As soon as we get certainty of where this goes, there will be a significant overhaul of what our budgets are looking like because this would have significant impacts for our region.
"We have massive challenges ahead."
Gisborne District Council opposes NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi's proposed policy changes to emergency funding, saying that if they proceed. Gisborne could face higher rates and poorer roads. Photo: Local Democracy Reporting / supplied
Council chief financial officer Pauline Foreman said many of the costs of Cyclone Gabrielle and extreme weather during that period related to Gisborne's fragile roading network.
You have to consider the trade-offs of each decision, which would be either to reduce levels of service, increase rates, or increase debt, she said.
"The rain may not have been deemed a one-in-10, or one-in-20-year event, which means we would be paying for those [repairs]."
The reduced funding assistance would "almost certainly" result in ongoing and unaffordable rate increases and/or significant deterioration of the roading network, the council report said.
Rehette Stoltz with then-opposition leader Christopher Luxon in the wake of Cyclone Gabrielle, February 2023. Photo: RNZ / Kate Green
Councillor Andy Cranston asked how NZTA quantified a one-in-20-year event.
Foreman said the determiners remained unknown, which meant it could be harder to claim under.
Councillor Collin Alder said this policy review would help the government save money.
"They are seeing the horrible inefficiencies in our roading maintenance, build and traffic management. The only tool they have is to put a squeeze on our funds."
Alder said the council needed to look at its transport infrastructure.
"I agree we need to go back and ask for more money, but we need to use the money to improve our resilience."
Stoltz said they did not build for resilience in the past as the funding was removed.
"If there are other avenues NZTA could offer us, we are all ears," she said.
Stoltz said she is a part of the transport reference group, with five other mayors. In a meeting last week, it was made clear this was a bigger concern for Gisborne, she said.
"For us, it is a real issue. It is forefront of our minds."
Local Government New Zealand is also putting forward a submission, she said.
The proposed changes could come into effect on 1 July, 2025.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.