A general tax and grandfathering rates for the elderly are among suggestions from Grey Power to take the sting out of hefty rates rises in a new 10-year budget for the Super City.
The Auckland city branch of Grey Power yesterday heard how the city's elderly population was struggling with proposed rates rises.
Branch president Anne-Marie Coury said about 7 per cent of Auckland's population was dependent on superannuation and "some of these people own homes and will struggle to maintain them, let alone heat them, if their rates continue to rise".
She posed a grandfather clause to cap rates for the elderly and a general tax rise of 2.5 per cent as the "fairest way to spread the burden". She also wants the Government-funded rates rebate of up to $605 to rise.
The council is proposing an overall rates increase of 3.5 per cent from July, but for households the average increase is 5.6 per cent, due to new property valuations and planned a reduction in business rates.
