SWDC tracking well towards financial sustainability

South Waikato District Council has reported another positive financial update as it tracks strongly towards achieving financial sustainability under the strategy set out in the Long Term Plan 2024-2034.

Speaking after Elected Members received the financial performance update in the April full Council meeting, Chief Executive Susan Law said that it illustrates “how far Council has come” in turning a difficult financial outlook into a healthier position.

“Over a period of time, we’ve continually exceeded the budget plan in terms of performance,” Law said. “We have drastically improved our position, thanks to the hard work of Council staff across the organisation.”

The recent report shows Council is positioned well in line with the budget, which provides “positive reassurance to both staff and local residents,” Law said, particular in the face of impending Local Government reform being handed down by Central Government

The Performance Report’s financial statement included a small surplus for the period ending 31 March 2026, against unexpected expenditures such as covering for lower subsidies from NZTA and remediation roadworks for landslides resulting from extreme weather events.

The Balancing the Books Report illustrates the Council’s financial sustainability measures, with the year-to-date net operating surplus of $189k, which is $3.3m better than the year-to-date budgeted deficit of $3.11m.

Executive Manager for Business Support, Michael Booth, added that Council’s level of financial resilience has been “bolstered” ahead of the incoming reforms for Local Government and proposed rates capping initiative.

SWDC has anticipated these incoming changes, “putting the Council in a strong position at a time of uncertainty,” Booth said. “Our staff have been hard at work to reduce operational costs, while we strengthen and build our local infrastructure for the generations ahead.”

He acknowledges that while local residents are feeling the impact of rates increases in recent years, now Council can confidently show positive results after “playing catch up from previous delays on major projects”.

“We have positioned ourselves very well to take advantage of the changes and opportunities ahead, to be able to pivot to whatever comes next and cope with the rates capping from Central Government.”

“We always planned on being here - we’re not sitting idle when it comes to change management.”

Prior to the Council Meeting, the Audit Risk and Improvement Committee on 23 April tabled an independent report from Deloitte auditors, which stated Council is tracking well against the budget set out in the previous year, in alignment with the goals of the Long Term Plan 2024-34.

According to Deloitte, SWDC is forecast to be in a healthy fiscal position heading into the Central Government’s directive for all Local Governments to be operating within the 4% rates capping limit by 2029.

South Waikato's forecast rates increases for the 2024-34 Long Term Plan are comparatively lower than the average proposed rates increases of the Councils assessed in the 2026 S&P report, for eight of the ten years.