![\"Auckland](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/4JTSJB9_Wayne_brown_cap_jpg.jpeg\")
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\nAuckland mayor Wayne Brown with his cap and can of beans.
\nPhoto: Supplied\n<\/p>\n
Auckland’s mayor says the government’s proposed legislation to cap rates rises is “ridiculous” and “nonsense”.<\/p>\n
The government wants councils to limit annual rates increases<\/a> and is seeking feedback on a rates cap.<\/p>\n At Tuesday’s full Auckland Council meeting, Wayne Brown put on a cap saying ‘RATES’ in a self-described move to mock the proposal.<\/p>\n He said the rates cap plan was a “fascinating piece of nonsense from Wellington”.<\/p>\n “I shall put my rates cap on while we mock this piece of ridiculous legislation,” Brown told the Council meeting.<\/p>\n “And I have a can of baked beans here which represents the amount of saving [over] a month that ratepayers will get, as a result of this fine work.”<\/p>\n \nAuckland’s mayor says the saving to ratepayers will amount to a can of beans a month. The council opposes the cap on the grounds it is not an effective tool to provide affordability and would result in more debt.<\/p>\n “Auckland ratepayers are unlikely to achieve the savings estimated by central government of $2.79 a month for each household, or the cost of a can of baked beans as noted by some commentators,” council’s manager of financial strategy and modelling violet bird said in a report<\/a>.<\/p>\n “This assessment from the government excluded Auckland Council from its calculations due to the council’s ‘moderate rates forecast’ and size.”<\/p>\n Ratepayers ‘fed up’, Luxon says<\/p>\n Prime Minister Christopher Luxon previously said ratepayers were “fed up”.<\/p>\n “They’re tired of having to prudently manage their own budgets while rates continue to go up, only to see their local council fail to demonstrate the same fiscal discipline.”<\/p>\n He said the government was not considering allowing councils to raise revenue through a levy on tourists, like a bed tax.<\/p>\n “We want councils to be focused on the money that they’ve got and make sure they’re doing a much better job of managing it. Some councils are doing a really good job, some councils are doing a very very poor job.”<\/p>\n Consultation on the changes opened immediately, and was set to close in February 2026 with the legislation expecting to be passed by the end of that year.<\/p>\n In December, the government announced it wanted councils to limit rates rises and more detail was released later that month, leaving councils a short runway to prepare a response.<\/p>\n The rates rise cap would likely start with minimum increases of two percent and a maximum of four percent<\/a>, with the cap taking effect from 1 January 2027.<\/p>\n![\"Auckland](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/4JTSI1T_Wayne_Brown_beans_jpg.jpeg\")
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\nPhoto: Supplied\n<\/p>\n