Federated Farmers: Leading rural advocacy on rates

Nigel Billings

Councils around New Zealand are in the midst of completing their draft Long Term Plans, a process of major interest to Federated Farmers.

Long Term Plans forecast expenditure and rates for districts, regions and cities out to 10 years, and are the documents that underpin service levels and the rates invoice. They are reviewed and put out for consultation between February and May every three years.

Given the level of rates on farms -- they're one of the bigger working expenses -- what council decides to get up to has a telling effect on the bottom line. There's also infrastructure to think about, with rural input needed on the roading network in particular, and vigilance required on the cost to farms of urban amenities and economic development visions.

For many years, Federated Farmers has led the rural advocacy on rates and roads, taking every opportunity to submit on the relevant plans.

Last year submissions were lodged with 68 councils, making the case for farmers.

Recent changes to the Local Government Act have reduced consultation requirements in the years between Long Term Plans, so this year's consultation is of primary importance.

For the 2015 Long Term Plans, the major areas of focus will continue to arise from the property value basis of general rates.

The Federation has long argued that this form of tax is punitive on land-intensive businesses, and that farming's share of the cost of local services is way out of kilter with the use of them.

A key focus is encouraging councils to smarten up their rating systems so all property owners pay a fair share of what council is costing. A starting point is uniform charges, which equalise costs between property owners and are widely under utilised. Targeted rates can be valuable also, as a transparent way of charging for services and targeting the cost to the properties that benefit.

Overall, the use of these mechanisms is increasing but it's a challenge to keep the momentum. It's hard graft to monitor council spending and look at what new initiatives will cost us.

Farmers are facing incredibly tight income equations this year and anything dramatic on the rates front badly needs to be on the downward side.

Let Federated Farmers know if your rates are beyond the pale -- it helps us tell your story and hold back the tide that is local rates.