Gore District Council reports $2.5 million annual deficit

The Gore District Council ended the 2025/26 financial year with a $2.543m deficit, coming in $2.796m ahead of its budgeted loss of $5.339m thanks to deferred project spending and consultant savings. But the financial saving comes alongside sharp community dissatisfaction – the council’s annual resident’s opinion survey revealed just 23% of respondents were satisfied with council decisions and actions, falling well short of its 80% target. The council’s Annual Plan Summary 2025/26 was included on the agenda for a full council meeting on Tuesday but was not discussed by councillors. Gore district mayor Ben Bell said he ‘’didn’t realise that was the score’’. “It's better than the lowest, it’s not high as we've been, but we always score pretty low on that. I mean, I get my feedback from the community and ultimately the voter box. So yeah, it's just a number, really,’’ he said. In 2024, 27% of respondents to the council’s survey were satisfied with council decisions and actions. That was a slight recovery from the 2023 result of 19%, which was measured at the height of the public fallout and mediation between Mayor Ben Bell and former CEO Stephen Parry. When asked what he could do to improve the score, Bell said the council needed to continue to be better at communicating. “It's hard to reach the community on complicated issues, and obviously our more controversial decisions, or the more unpleasant decisions that we have to make, hit the headlines,’’ he said. “There's always better ways we can communicate with the community, but it's also just a reflection of the state of trust with politicians across the board as well. You see similar numbers in national politics.’’ The annual report said overall expenditure reached $43.9 million, under the planned $46.6m budget. Operational expenses came in $2.7m below budget, largely driven by $1.5m in savings on contractors and consultants following delays to an IT platform migration. Finance costs were also $991,000 lower than expected due to lower borrowing rates and delayed capital works, including water treatment upgrades and clock tower maintenance. Council staff vacancies produced a $318,000 variance in personnel costs. These savings were partially offset by an extra $1.4m in depreciation expenses following asset revaluations in 2022. Total revenue hit $41.4m, slightly ahead of the budgeted $41.3m, boosted by higher waste transfer fees and government grants. This year’s average rates increase was 8.79%, sitting just below the projected 8.82% and within the council's self-imposed 10% benchmark. The council had previously said rising interest costs, inflation, and staffing requirements to meet legislative standards were key drivers of the increase. "While we acknowledge the financial pressures facing our community, we have worked diligently to manage costs while maintaining essential services," the report said. "We recognise the burden this places on our ratepayers and remain committed to finding efficiencies wherever possible while delivering the infrastructure and services our community needs." The 2026 Residents’ Survey – which gathered 386 responses and was yet to be tabled at a meeting, showed spending and rates were the top concerns for locals, followed by roading, water, wastewater and stormwater, and footpaths, the report said.