What will the changes mean for you?He aha te pānga o ngā panonitanga nei ki a koe?

Who will deliver my three waters services?

Source: Department of Internal Affairs

If you currently receive your three waters services from your local council, from mid-2024 those services will be provided by a new water entity - currently known as ‘Entity C’. ‘Entity C’ organisation will be providing services for the entire area shown here.

When will this happen?

From 1 July 2024. Until then, your council continues to provide your three waters services as they do now.

Will I still have to pay for three waters services once the new entity takes over?

Yes. The new entity will bill you directly.

What will I pay?

Under the new system, Government has projected that over the next 30 years the costs will look like this.

Source: Department of Internal Affairs

However, there is currently no indication of what your three waters services will cost from 1 July 2024.

Once three waters services are no longer the responsibility of my local Council, will my rates go down?

If you receive water and/or wastewater services from your council, then you should expect that your council rates will reduce when three waters services are no longer the responsibility of the Council.

Will my council rates go down by the same amount as I pay to the new entity for my three waters services?

Not necessarily, because:

• The new entity will set its own fees and charges which may be different to what your council was previously charging
• Costs are increasing for councils across all services – it is likely that the amount your council needs to fund all of the other services that it provides will increase and this will be reflected in your rates
• There are some costs that councils currently incur in providing three waters services that won’t transfer to the new entity. These are costs such as support services, rent, electricity and other overheads. These are called “stranded overheads” or “stranded costs”. Councils will get some funding from the new entities to cover these stranded costs, but only for the first two years. In some cases, the funding may not cover all of the stranded overheads a council may have, and so the difference may need to be added to council rates.

How will my interests be heard and represented to the new water services entity?

The water services entity’s Regional Representative Group (RRG) will have responsibility for representing the views of local communities.

For the Water Services ‘Entity C’ RRG, there will be 6 to 7 council representatives representing 21 councils and 6 to 7 mana whenua representatives representing all iwi across the East Coast of the North Island, the top of the South Island and the Chatham Islands. This means it is possible that Hawke’s Bay’s councils and mana whenua may have no direct representation on Entity C’s RRG.

The water services entities will be required to directly consult with their customers, residents and businesses on their investment priorities, prices and charges through their council and through other consumer and community interest forums.

Who will I call if something went wrong with my service?

Once the new water services entity is operating, it will be responsible for service calls, in the same way that your local council currently is.

What will happen to my council once it is no longer responsible for three waters?

Your council will continue providing all of the other services it currently delivers. This includes things like roading, parks, housing, libraries, pools, alcohol licensing, dog control, building consents, resource consents, environment health, support for business, and so forth.

It is important to note that the Government has initiated a Review into the Future of Local Government which could see changes to the way local government operates in future.

Government is providing a funding package to support councils through the transition to the new arrangements and to cover the costs and financial impacts that councils will incur because of the reforms.

How much will my council get in support funding?

The support package is made up of two key components:

1. A “better-off’ component to enable investment into the future for local government and community well-being, to support the priorities of central and local government; and
2. A “no-worse-off” component to ensure no council is financially worse off in the short-term following the transfer of their three waters services to the new entities.

Source: Department of Internal Affairs