Council profiles need to show outcomes, not just spending

LGNZ is calling for “council profiles” to contain information about what each council delivers in communities, rather than just show what’s being spent, so that ratepayers get a full view of how their council is performing.

This follows today's release of the first set of council profiles by Department of Internal Affairs (DIA), which draw on publicly available data to gauge financial performance.

LGNZ Vice President Campbell Barry says the profiles provide a good starting point for councils to engage with the community.

“Councils have always supported transparency and benchmarking and communities deserve to know exactly what they’re getting for their rates, especially with local elections in October. The profiles detail council expenditure, but they don’t show what the community gets for this investment or whether that investment has been supported by the community,” says Campbell Barry.

“At the moment, the metrics only provide part of the story. For example, is that council investing in key infrastructure to support future growth or make up for past underinvestment, has it been exposed to particular cost pressures or weather events, or is it at a particular point in an investment cycle?

“Key local context is also important; is the council high growth or inundated with tourists?

“I want to acknowledge how far these profiles have come since our initial discussions with DIA. We are pleased that a lot of our feedback has been taken on board. But there’s still more work to do.

“We encourage people to also look at councils’ pre-election reports — which provide a snapshot of council performance and value as well as unique challenges and opportunities — alongside the profiles, to get a fuller picture.

“We will be working with the Government to ensure profiles in the future take a consistent approach to what good looks like and how councils measure up.”