\u201cThe rate capping needed to be effective from 2026. That\u2019s what ratepayers have been asking for.<\/p>\n
Whakat\u0101ne Action Group chairman John Howard. Photo \/ LDR<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can expect this council to embark on a massive rate hike spending spree for the next LTP. So for many ratepayers seeking some relief, the timeline is just too far away. It will cause much more hardship.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had about a 42% rate increase in this Long-term Plan and the council\u2019s agenda on Thursday is indicating that they may increase this year\u2019s rate increase of 9.4% back to 10.4%.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said the council was spending about $9 million a year servicing debt.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis new council needs to seriously get expenditure that increases debt under control fast for the benefit of the whole district.\u201d<\/p>\n
Former Whakat\u0101ne mayor Victor Luca, who tried to exert downward pressure on rates during his time on council, said the Government had \u201cachieved in one fell swoop what I couldn\u2019t achieve in six years\u201d.<\/p>\n
Previous Whakat\u0101ne mayor Victor Luca. Photo \/ LDR<\/p>\n
However, he also noted the 2029 timeline.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor a struggling ratepayer, that is not soon enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mayor Nandor Tanczos said rates capping was \u201cwell-intentioned but poorly thought out\u201d, and would likely make things worse for ratepayers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all want rates to go down, but what is being proposed is largely the same system that has failed across the Tasman, with pretty dire consequences for local communities in New South Wales and Victoria,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt just leads to underinvestment in critical infrastructure, reduced public services, and then every few years a major correction that leads to a rates spike. All the evidence is that it does not work for communities and adds massive costs to councils.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s catch-up time right now. Kicking the can further down the road will lead to an even harder adjustment when reality catches up with us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tanczos said the proposed regulator function just added another bureaucratic layer to what was already a heavily regulated area.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis kind of increased compliance creates more churn on staff time, so what\u2019s meant to be saving us dollars can end up costing us more.\u201d<\/p>\n
Accountability should be to the community that elects the councillors and mayor, not to a minister in Wellington, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cDouble-digit rates increases are unsustainable, that\u2019s a given. Everyone wants lower rates rises, including all of our councillors, but a centrally imposed limit restricts councils\u2019 ability to respond to local needs. It takes away communities\u2019 right to determine their own priorities.\u201d<\/p>\n
While three waters is not included in the rates cap, the proposal now captures core infrastructure like roads, bridges and public transport, which the Government had previously indicated would be excluded, Tanczos said.<\/p>\n
\u201cLocal government needs a common-sense, fast-track process for exemptions – particularly for fast-growing areas or in response to natural disasters. That process must be flexible and fast-moving, not bogged down in bureaucracy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2013 LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cThe rate capping needed to be effective from 2026. That\u2019s what ratepayers have been asking for. Whakat\u0101ne Action…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":166170,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[3017,4464,28164,15399,111,43,139,69,1118,7676,8262,4743],"class_list":["post-166169","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-ahead","tag-cap","tag-fears","tag-massive","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-of","tag-rates","tag-spending","tag-spree"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166169","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=166169"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166169\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/166170"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=166169"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=166169"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=166169"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}