The Dunedin City Council and the Queenstown Lakes District Council have escaped a round of road funding subsidy cutbacks for maintenance budgets, as other rural councils around the lower South Island take a hit.
The New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) has reset its base levels for the "funding assistance rate" subsidies which it provides to prop up council roading maintenance and renewals programme budgets around New Zealand.
NZTA Southern regional director Jim Harland said the agency had made funding adjustments of about 1% to the subsidies given to councils.
Despite the percentage cutbacks experienced by the majority of councils in the lower South, the Otago-Southland area received a total net gain of $167,000.
The funding assistance rate change rise has given the Dunedin City Council (DCC) an extra $300,000 for its roading programmes, while the Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) has an increase of $200,000.
The Southland District Council (SDC) will be hit by the biggest subsidy loss, with a 1% cutback amounting to a drop of $250,000.
SDC chief executive David Adamson said the reduction was especially disappointing, given the amount of export dollars which was travelling on Southland roads through the growth of the dairy industry.
"We are seeing an increase in heavy vehicles on our roads, which means more road user charges for Government, so this decrease is frustrating," Mr Adamson said.
Mr Harland said the level of base funding assistance rates reflected the size of each council's respective roading maintenance and renewals (resealing) programmes.
Land values also gave some indication of the financial resources which were available to councils through their ability to recover rates, he said.
Seven rural councils in Otago-Southland were among a total of 23 local authorities around New Zealand which had their road funding subsidies cut by 1%.
Three councils received a funding subsidy rise of about 2%, while the DCC and QLDC were among the 19 local authorities to be in the 1% rise bracket.
Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull said the city was fortunate not to have experienced cutbacks, like other councils around the region had.
"It's great news. We have no shortage of projects to put the funding towards."
Inflation rises would absorb some of the subsidy, but it was still "reassuring" to have the money, given the "context of so much being cut back these days", Mr Cull said.
Central Otago Mayor Tony Lepper said the drop in subsidy would mean the council faced a hard choice about whether it would have to cut back on roading services.
He questioned the assessment criteria, claiming the NZTA's decisions were "based on an antiquated formula" which assumed rural areas were able to absorb costs.
"We did think it was coming. It will limit our options and may mean we have to raise rates," he said.
Queenstown Lakes deputy mayor Lyal Cocks said the funding rise for the district's roading programmes was a welcome surprise.
"A lot of people travel through this district, so it is always good to get more money from central government and the NZTA to increase roading services," he said.
Given the tight fiscal environment, the roading subsidy rise was "very welcome", Mr Cocks said.
Five councils had a drop of 2%, while 16 had no change to their funding assistance.
The last time the NZTA reviewed its base levels for funding assistance rates was five years ago, Mr Harland said.
The NZTA has signalled its intentions to trim costs as part of a National Land Transport Programme, which is dictated by the Government's policy for land transport funding.
