1% - Waikato District Council

102NAVIGATING THE FUTURE | WAIKATO DISTRICT COUNCILWhat’s plannedThe following are the major initiatives in the plan. The full workprogramme (capital and operational spending) is listed on pages62-65 in Volume Two.• We think there’s a lot of savings to be made in what wedo as a business. We need to buy better and create savings,and to do this, we need the right expertise. So, we areadding a new specialist procurement role. In the short term,savings should cover the $100,000 cost. In 2013/14, we havebudgeted for a $50,000 reduction in overall costs ($150,000of savings against the $100,000 cost), while from 2015onwards we have allowed for net savings of $100,000per year.• Business improvement will focus on delivering demonstrabledollar savings to the council and to do this, we will employone additional staff member to increase the scope andnumber of business improvement initiatives and thereforeincrease efficiency.• More capacity is provided for in this plan for the financeteam, to review processes to reduce cost and improveinformation quality. Time-consuming manual reporting is likelyto be replaced with software solutions, while pre-electionreporting and monitoring progress against the financialstrategy, required by law, will also be addressed throughthis additional capacity.• Information management solutions are focused on takingthe organisation forward, software solutions will encouragebetter integration across teams, smarter processes andprovide advanced reporting capabilities to aid in decisionmaking. Customers now expect to complete some councilprocesses on line. We also need to explore sub-regional oreven broader shared IM services.• Demands on the communications team are high, and likelyto increase as we look for different ways to consult andprocess the feedback we have received from the public.We have added a communications manager role so theteam can effectively deal with the workload.• From a legislative perspective, the council environmentis becoming increasingly complex and onerous. We havetherefore included budget for an additional role to supportour legal counsel.• Completion of the refurbishment of the Ngaruawahia counciloffices. Budget $1.1 million. 2012/13.• Local government business models are changing, andthere’s a consequent need for flexible and adaptablehuman resources processes. This needs a culture focusedon delivering great results. Underpinning this will beexcellent and targeted recruitment, development, successionplanning and performance management. The plan providesfor strategies to deliver this, including an in-house trainer(presently contracted) and increasing a part-time HR adviserto a full-time role, reflecting the needs of 280 full-time staff.• The council’s investment in Strada is expected to provide afinancial return in each year of the plan: 2012/13 - $50,000;2013/14 – $100,000; 2014/15 – $200,000; and progressivelyincreasing at $100,000 per year to $500,000 to 2021/22• As we have seen in Canterbury, and other centres severelyaffected by natural disasters such as floods, the damagecaused from such events can be severe and costly. At themoment, our disaster recovery fund is at $972,000. We haveprovided for more investment in this fund, for the last threeyears of the plan, to double the amount. Budget $1 million.2018/19 – 20/2122.• Our electricity contract for general properties has expired.This contract covered our council offices, halls and smallerproperties. The new contract will cost $35,000 moreeach yearWhat’s not in the plan• Planning, design and operations will continue to require ratesfunding, but have been kept at a level consistent with the2011/12 budget• The sale of any council-controlled organisations• Specified staff level reductions; instead a general poolof operational savings has been included.What you’ve said“Begin a programme ofbenchmarking againstother councils.”