Interpretation of Department of Internal Affairs council performance profiles clarified

28 Jul 2025

The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) has today released performance profiles for all councils across New Zealand.

These profiles are part of a government initiative aimed at enhancing transparency and allowing communities to access consistent, comparable information about council operations.

The initial release focuses on financial and demographic data, with figures sourced from publicly available documents such as annual reports, long-term plans, and information provided by the Local Government Funding Agency.

Buller District Council (BDC) supports the intent of this framework, but notes that the information published today does not fully reflect BDC’s current position.

Due to delays in completing and publishing BDC’s most recent annual reports, some of the figures in BDC’s profile are based on older documents that no longer accurately represent the council’s current financial or operational performance.

Chief Executive Simon Pickford states the council is committed to transparency and understands the importance of context when interpreting the figures.

“We recognise that clear and accessible information is vital for public trust. However, because our most recent reports are not yet publicly available, the figures presented today do not reflect the improvements and progress we’ve made.

“We want to be upfront with our community; this report uses a mix of current and outdated data, and it does not tell the full story.”

Council’s outstanding annual reports are currently being finalised and are scheduled to be released over the coming months. These will provide a more accurate and up-to-date picture of council’s performance.

Some metrics in the DIA profile have been updated to reflect newer data sources, including:

  • Forecast rates revenue change from 2024 to 2025 (new),
  • Forecast rates revenue change from 2025 to 2026,
  • Forecast capital expenditure for 2025 to 2027, and
  • Credit rating (new metric), as provided by the Local Government Funding Agency.

Figures relating to net debt/total revenue are based on the 2021-2022 council annual report. While BDC had the opportunity to check the initial data in June, there has been no further opportunity to review the updated profiles prior to publication.

“BDC’s general rates increase of 5.95% and total rates movement of 6.43% is the lowest on the West Coast this year and places us in the bottom 25% of councils in terms of rates increases nationwide” says Mr Pickford.

Council looks forward to future enhancements to the framework that offer greater timeliness, broader measures, and more meaningful comparisons between councils.

For more information, visit the Department of Internal Affairs website: www.dia.govt.nz

-ENDS-

For further information please contact:
Community Engagement Team
Buller District Council
Media.Enquiries@bdc.govt.nz 

Disclaimer
The information in this media release was correct at time of publication. Changes in circumstances after the time of publication may impact on the accuracy of the information.