Council performance measurement

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 On this page:

• Background
• Council groups
• Council profiles
• Where did the information come from?
• Glossary
• Why might results vary between councils?
• How will council performance in water services delivery be measured?

Background

People want to know where their rates are going and how their council stacks up against others. But at the moment it can be difficult to assess council performance, with each council planning and reporting differently.

The Government is establishing a council performance measurement framework, similar to that in New South Wales. This will involve the Department of Internal Affairs routinely publishing council performance information on its website. The first release of this information will take the form of council profiles focused on financial performance. Subsequent releases will cover a broader range of metrics, in asset management, service delivery, and governance.

Council groups

• Councils have generally been grouped by population size
• Unitary authorities and regional councils have been grouped separately
• Auckland Council Group and Chatham Islands Council have each been grouped independently

Council profiles

The council profiles and comparison tables linked below have been arranged by council group, and the metrics within each profile span demographics, rates revenue, debt, and operating and capital expenditure. We recommend using the reference profile and more detailed glossary when analysing council profiles, and generally only drawing comparisons between councils within a group.

 A summary of council performance information can be found here: Summary of council performance information (XLSX, 147KB)

Where did the information come from?

Officials have sourced council performance information from council annual reports, annual plans, and long-term plans. Demographic information came from Statistics New Zealand, and results for debt measures came from the Local Government Funding Agency.

All data underpinning the results is provided in the spreadsheet linked below. At the foot of each sheet are more detailed descriptions of the sources for each set of results.

Data release for council profiles - July 2025 (XLSX, 113KB)
Data release for council profiles - July 2025 (CSV, 30KB)

All efforts were made to ensure a consistent approach to sourcing data for each measure. Where councils categorised revenue or expenses differently (e.g., excluding metered water revenue from rates revenue or including elected member remuneration in personnel costs), we tried to accommodate to ensure all councils were represented equally. However, we cannot guarantee that all councils apply the same definitions or accounting practices when reporting on these and other metrics (e.g., staffing levels or capital expenditure by activity group).

Glossary

The reference profile at the beginning of each council group PDF above provides basic definitions of terms used in council profiles and group comparison tables. For more detailed descriptions of these and other related terms, please see the Glossary (PDF, 200KB)

Why might results vary between councils?

Results may vary between councils, even those within a council group, for a range of reasons. Each council operates in a unique setting shaped by its geography, history, and community expectations. These factors influence decisions about what services and facilities councils provide, and how these are delivered.

Population

Population spread and number of ratepayers affect how much councils earn from rates and therefore what services they can afford to deliver. Councils may choose to deliver services in-house or contract them out depending on what’s most cost-effective. For example, waste collection or engineering. This will be reflected in a council’s staffing levels and remuneration figures.

Growth

Some councils (tier 1 and 2 under the National Policy Statement on Urban Development) must actively plan for growth and increased housing demand. These councils often have higher debt and capital spending. Their total rates revenue will also include a larger growth component, with a faster increasing number of rating units. A list of tier 1 and tier 2 councils can be found here: National Policy on Urban Development (HUD website)

Tourism

High-tourism areas like Queenstown Lakes, Kaikōura, and Mackenzie face extra demand for services and facilities like roads, rubbish collection, and public toilets. Rates are often higher in these areas to cover the costs of hosting more guests. High-tourism areas, reflected in higher guest nights per capita in New Zealand, can be found here: Guest nights per capita in New Zealand (Regional Economic Activity Web Tool)

Disaster recovery

Many councils are still recovering from major weather events, like Cyclone Gabrielle and the Auckland floods, or other natural disasters, like the Christchurch and Kaikōura earthquakes. Some of these councils are managing the costs of buyouts, relocations, and the demolition and removal associated with severely affected land. Others are still managing the long-term impacts of disaster. Recovery tends to result in councils taking on more debt to fund critical capital works.

Asset life cycle and revenue sources

Results may also vary between councils because the assets managed by councils are at different stages in their life cycle (costs change over the course of an asset’s life), and some councils have access to sources of revenue others do not (e.g., dividends from holding companies). Councils also take different approaches to how they generate revenue using general (e.g., residential or commercial) and targeted (e.g., for stormwater or commercial) rates.

Special cases

Some councils also have unique roles. For instance, Greater Wellington Regional Council is the only regional council managing water infrastructure, making some of its financial performance information difficult to compare with other regional councils.

How will council performance in water services delivery be measured?

From December 2025, information about council water services charges and investment will be included in council profiles. We are still developing the measures but expect them to include information on:

• projected charges for water services per connection or rating unit; and
• projected investment in water services per connection or rating unit.

Information will be based on the water services delivery plans that councils submit by September 2025. To ensure that measures capture the adoption of new delivery models and the potential efficiency gains, the Department will also consider how it could compare the results against a hypothetical multi-council regional water services organisation (CCO) comparator.

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