Kerre Woodham: A rates cap or an erosion of services and facilities?

Auckland households face a 7.9% rate rise next year, primarily to fund the operating costs for the $5.5 billion City Rail Link, which is nearly finished. It's a reality, it's going to open for passengers next year – woo! The increase will cover the $235 million annual cost of operating the new underground rail service. It's the largest rates rise since Auckland Council as a super city was formed in 2010. For the average household wondering what on earth to do with all the extra money that comes into their bank accounts, annual rates will climb from $4,023 to $4,341.

Peter Williams: Can Councils be Capped?

The status quo is unsustainable

Cameron Bagrie is a proud son of Central Otago who’s become one of the most influential economic voices in New Zealand. Back near his old home town of Clyde this week, he told a business audience in Cromwell that local councils “just have to learn to live within their means.” He wasn’t making small talk. He was signalling a shift in the way local government is about to be run — and funded.

Bagrie is part of a small group of advisers helping draft new legislation to cap local authority rates rises. The goal is simple: rein in what has become one of the biggest and most consistent drivers of household cost increases. In the past year, local body rates have been a major contributor to inflation, pushing the Consumer Price Index above the 3 percent target band that the Reserve Bank is supposed to maintain.