Rachel Keedwell says she does not want to see inadequate protection of our soils, water quality or biodiversity.
Rachel Keedwell says she does not want to see inadequate protection of our soils, water quality or biodiversity.
OPINION
If you have paid any attention to current affairs in the past month, you will know that most New Zealanders are in for a shock when they receive their rates bills for 2024-25.
Councils across the country are currently consulting on their draft long-term plans in which they outline the work they propose to do over the next 10 years and how that work will be funded.
And unfortunately, most councils rely primarily on rates for funding any increases in their work programmes.
Up until this year, 6 per cent was considered a large rates rise. This year, the average increase across the country is more than 15 per cent, and the lowest increase is 6 per cent while some of the highest increases are approaching 30 per cent.
I know this increase will be unaffordable for many on a low or fixed income who are already struggling to make ends meet. And it won’t just hit ratepayers – these rate increases will flow through into rent increases.
This is a disaster that has been quietly in the making for a long time. Rates have historically been kept artificially low through underinvestment in key infrastructure, and a demand for keeping rates rises to a minimum but communities still wanting improvements in the services that councils provide.
Coupled with increases in inflation and insurance, and more requirements for councils to carry out work on behalf of central Government, there is no simple fix to this problem.
Councils have very few funding and financing tools available to them and even dropping levels of service will not substantially lower rates unless large areas of business are exited.
This isn’t really a solution because all it will do is push the problem out for future generations to deal with. For example, from a regional council perspective, which areas of business do we exit?
I’m not willing to let our flood protection assets decline, or stop providing public transport options for our communities, nor do I want to see inadequate protection of our soils or water quality or our biodiversity. These are all critical services to enabling our communities to thrive now and in the future.
Exactly what that means for each ratepayer in the region varies from district to district and property to property.
The best way to find out what this means for your property is to go to horizons.govt.nz and look at our rates search tool that will compare current rates with the proposed rates.
Almost 2 per cent of the proposed rates increase is due to increased insurance premiums alone, and even then our assets will still be hugely underinsured.
The only significant increase in levels of service is 4.5 per cent of the proposed increase for improvements to bus services, which will be targeted to ratepayers in Palmerston North and Whanganui.
You can find out more information online about all the proposals included in our Long-Term Plan. There is still time for you to put in a submission as the consultation closes on April 22.
I encourage you to make sure your voice is heard because this proposal is only a draft and we need to hear what our community thinks before we finalise our plan for the next 10 years.
