Tomorrow’s Queenstown Lakes District Council meeting will be one of tough decisions, deputy mayor Quentin Smith says.

Councillors will need to decide whether or not to adopt the draft Long Term Plan for public consultation, which proposes an average rates increase of more than 15 percent.

They’ll also be asked to make final decisions on allocation of the Community Fund and Events Fund.

The 15.6 percent average rates increase in the draft Long Term Plan is “in line” with the average rates increases being considered by councils around the country, Quentin said.

“It’s a national issue regarding the escalations and challenges, particularly relating to Three Waters and the like, and interest rates,” he said.

Mayor Glyn Lewers said the council had been hit by “so many” external factors outside its control which are affecting rates.

“Everything we do is costing more to deliver, making this one of the most difficult budgets to prepare for the district,” he said.

Both Glyn and Quentin said the increase was not being considered lightly.

The council has significantly scaled back its capital expenditure programme, and during the past six months the council has scrutinised projects, services, programmes, and general operating costs to see where cuts can be made.

There have been “some really challenging conversations around priorities and what this means for rates increases”, Glyn said.

Financial pressures also affect how many groups the council can help via its Events Fund and Community Fund, which councillors will also consider tomorrow (Thursday June 27).

With around $380,000 to allocate to events and 29 applications requesting close to $1M, the Events Fund, which is designed to support local events that have flow-on effects for the wider community, will also leave some event organisers disappointed.

The Community Fund, an annual contestable fund to support community organisations, has a healthy budget of around $1.8M, but it has received a record 94 applications this year.

“It’s always a tricky thing,” Quentin said. “We’d love to support and fund everything but we can’t.”

“We’ve got to make some tough decisions.”

Also on the agenda for tomorrow’s full council meeting are the Upper Clutha Landscape Schedules variation, the Queenstown Airport Corporation Statement of Intent, the Creativity, Culture and Heritage Plan, and others.

The meeting will take place at 1pm at the Council Chambers, Queenstown, and it will be live-streamed on the QLDC Facebook page.