Waitaki District Council’s longest-serving councillor has been left annoyed and frustrated with fellow councillors’ inability find further ways of reducing rates bills.
At a meeting of the Waitaki District Council this week, councillors agreed a rates rise, from next year, of 9.79%.
Cr Jim Hopkins was not impressed with the outcome of what was the final chance to make meaningful reductions before the long-term plan is finally adopted in June.
‘‘No-one wants to spend 9%-plus on rates but none of you want to actually take a dollar off the bill — crying out loud.’’ . .
There were several ways the council could have saved some money.
His suggestion that the $80,000 planned to pay for demolition of aviaries at the Oamaru Public Gardens be saved by offering the work as a free project to a community group was also turned down by councillors.
‘‘I would just say to my colleagues around the table that what you have decided in terms of the discussions previously and even today, is that every dollar, of every line item, on every page, is absolutely of essential importance and cannot be reduced or forsaken,’’ Cr Hopkins said.
‘‘I think that’s untenable.
‘‘There are discretionary items in the pages we’ve looked at that could and should be reconsidered and I stand by the points I’ve made.
‘‘I’m disappointed the elected members won’t accept the principle that if, as has been asserted by a Crown agency, the Oamaru Freezer Building is a building of national importance, there is no justification for 13,000 ratepayers to put the total cost of its upkeep.’’
The council did manage to agree to a reduction of $100,000 in the budget which will have a further small reduction of about one or two tenths of a percent.
While not as big as the 10.3% rise the council originally consulted on in March, councillors have approved a proposed rates strike for its 2025-34 Long Term Plan, which will be adopted by the council in June.
Once adopted the plan will see rates rise 9.79% in 2026, then a rise of 6.5% the following year.
The 6.5% is an improvement on 9.7% but still above inflation.
Rates are one of the big items feeding inflation.
Whanganui District Council is imposing a rates increase of 2.2%. If one council can take their responsibility for fiscal prudence seriously, why can’t the rest?
There are calls for the government to impose caps on council rates. That there is just one Waitaki councillor speaking up for lower rates and suggesting how that could be achieved is a strong argument for that.
If councils aren’t going to rein themselves in they are inviting the government to do it for them.
Ele Ludemann is a North Otago farmer and journalist, who blogs HERE - where this article was sourced.
2 comments:
I agree with calls all around the country for councils to stick to their core business and avoid rates rises rather than funding their pet projects. However, it is just as important for central government to do that as well.
Time for the government to take action.
It isn't unreasonable to summize councils are our main source of unnecessary inflation.
It's also not unreasonable to summize councils are NZs main source of corruption.
How is so much extra money collected for so little benefit?
On top of Mahe Drysdale giving $38m ratepayer owned cbd land to the maoris, tauranga ratepayers now discover the council marine precinct was mysteriously sold by the labour appointed commissioners to a Christchurch developer at a bargain basement price.
Might be a coincidence but wasnt Anne tolley the mayor of christchurch?
Voters are habitually lied to by local body candidates with no effective mechanism for holding the liars and thieves to account.
It's time for the government to step in and sort the corrupt council financial rort.
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