District Mayor Tamah Alley confirmed her council will take part in Te Korowai, run by Local Government New Zealand and formerly known as CouncilMark.
Te Korowai is an independent assessment programme designed to support continuous improvement, the mayor told The News.
"It includes an integrity survey, assessor site visits, and feedback with action plans."
The Central Otago District Council’s review will cover four key areas of council performance — governance; leadership and strategy; financial decision-making and transparency; and service delivery and asset management — and comes with a $35,000 price tag, although any site visits by assessors would bump that cost up.
However the mayor said receiving "honest, constructive feedback" was worth the investment.
"I fully expect there will be areas to work on, and that’s the point — we’re here to learn and improve.
"The timing also works well, as the new council in October will be well-positioned to act on the findings."
The idea for such an assessment had been raised several times in recent years, including by ratepayers interested in benchmarking how the CODC compares to other councils, the mayor said.
"Unlike private businesses, councils often take on roles others won’t, making success harder to define. Te Korowai offers a structured way to identify strengths and areas for improvement. It gives us a clear starting point and a road map for enhancing our systems and processes."
The LGNZ assessment comes as the Department of Internal Affairs conducts its own inaugural benchmarkng programme for local councils — but the mayor thought there were key differences between the two.
"Te Korowai goes well beyond DIA’s benchmarking," she said.
"While DIA’s data, due out at the end of June, compares publicly available metrics across councils — often ‘apples with pears’ — Te Korowai provides tailored insights specific to CODC.
"It focuses on what we can improve, making the findings more actionable and accessible for staff, elected members, and the public."
