I personally love the idea of stopping councils from continually jacking up what they charge us, but I worry that this is not going to fix the situation, because it's not the actual problem, is it?
The actual problem is that councils spend our money on stupid stuff. A la, the light up toilets in Wellington even when they've got no money.
Wellington has got no money, but they keep on doing this stuff.
So even if you stop them having much money because you put on a rate cap, they will continue to spend the money on the wrong things.
A la, Wellington.
So what will then happen if you put the rate cap on - is that after years and years and years and years of deferred capital expenditure, the pipes will break down cause Wellington hasn't spent money on them, and the roads will be in disrepair because Wellington hasn't spent money on them, and the buildings will need earthquake upgrades cause Wellington hasn't spent money on them.
And then they will say - oh, look at all the trouble we've got. We need more money.
And then some Government run by somebody like Grant Robertson will go - yeah, cool, we'll lift the rate cap. And they'll just make up for lost ground and go hell for leather and jack it up.
Or what they'll do is for years and years and years and years, they will just run everything on the credit card and then they'll say - oh look, it's a debt crisis. We've got to pay back our debt, we need more money.
And some Government run by somebody like Grant Robertson will go - oh yeah, that's cool. Let's lift the rate cap, and then off they go.
And they'll just make up for lost ground. See what I mean?
It'll make you feel good about it in the short term, but they will get you eventually, because the problem is that they aren't spending money properly - and that is actually what we need to fix here.
Now, I don't know how. I think getting rid of some of our councils by canning the regional councils or canning the district councils or canning the local councils or the city councils may help limit the costs. But I'm not sure.
Ultimately, I think we just need smarter people on council - and we need to hold their feet to the fire.
But as long as you have numpties and council officials who are shady - and you're not watching them - a rate cap will only delay the problem.
Heather du Plessis-Allan is a journalist and commentator who hosts Newstalk ZB's Drive show HERE - where this article was sourced.
5 comments:
No, no, no Heather. You are putting the cart before the horse. Councils have budgets and credit ratings and there are limits on what spending they can commit to. That's why they make a shopping list, make a budget, apportion the costs to the ratepayers and hey bingo! Rates increase. If there is a cap they will need to trim the shopping list. We also need better councillors and especially, better mayors.
MC
NZ Building Construction is by and large a very productive industry. Team Work is prevalent . Most companies either analyse progress and cost against the Quantity surveyor and contractual estimates. Smaller teams clock in each day receive their task description and the progress is detailed at days end. Simple, Effective ,Minimal Surprises. Councils , they are largesse, on steroids and delusion. NZ needs to revert to the Town Clerk system where the buck stops with one, or a practical engineer type like Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown
Wellington is great example. Don’t complain about your rates because you got your light-up toilets, rainbow crossings, cycle lanes, and funding of a new made-up holiday, declarations of being anti-[insert name of technological advancement here] and twinning the city with the Palestinian Authority.
Wellington is also a good example where (city and nation) the people who have caused and prop-up the causes of enduring damage have been paid well and do not have to be held to account. They have amplified division and racked up debt to pay for follies, which future tax/ratepayers have to pay to service (ie interest and principal repayments) as well as still having to pay for unreformed services and to fix infrastructure that has been neglected. Oh, and climate change (because that always has to be mentioned).
Elected Mayors and Councillors are now well past their use-by date. Electing narcissists and school-children to run big organisations (directing them more likely) is no way to operate. Time to train up a College of Local Body Administrators, dispense with voting, give the Administrators strong powers of dismissal over the council bureaucrats and hold the Administrators responsible for efficiency and effectiveness. Easy eh?
I'm gonna agree with you Heather. Caps won't work.
Change the LG Act to better identify their role and get rid of the power of general competence.
Also the elephant in the room is the out of control wages and staff numbers.
I'm surprised the Tax payers Union cannot see this.
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