The Auditor general has released a report in Parliament on council’s 2015-2025 Long Term Plans.

The report provides an overview of some of the critical issues likely to face councils in the future such as declining and aging populations (a key challenge facing the Waitomo district over the coming years).

Of particular interest to our District community is Appendix 1 of the Report which lists the forecast debt balances for each local authority in New Zealand. This table shows the highest to lowest forecast debt balance at 30 June 2025.

Waitomo District Council is listed at 42 out of 78 Local Authorities with decline in forecast debt level - $33.6 million as at 30 June 2025.

Many Local Authorities listed show a forecast increase in debt levels over the ten year period.

• You can view the OAG Report Matters arising from the 2015-25 local authority long-term plans here. (PDF 798 KB)