Editorial: Rates hike thanks to shakes

If you didn't think you'd been overly affected by the Christchurch earthquakes until now - get set for a shake-up.
Much has been said and written about Rotorua ratepayers' upcoming rates increase.
Various factors have been at play in setting the rate, including the contentious airport debt, potential service cuts, marketing strategies and even some trees at the landfill.
Most ratepayers have been expecting for a while a 3.1 per cent rates rise, a figure confirmed in this story.
But now we find out that if it weren't for a forecast half-million-dollar increase in insurance premiums, thanks to the Christchurch earthquakes, we were looking at a much lower rates rise, somewhere much closer to 2 per cent.
Wouldn't that have been nice?
It's probably far too easy to let ourselves forget about the troubles of Christchurch and their earthquakes and aftershocks, which will have ramifications for decades to come.
But we can't afford to and not just because it's now affecting us directly by hitting us in the wallet.
And not just because it could happen here and we would be relying on the nation to not forget us.
But because we simply shouldn't.
And in the end we can't put our rates rise just down to earthquakes and insurance.
As I said above, several factors were at play and we all had a chance to make submissions during the process.
Not everyone agrees with decisions made on our behalf, but we should trust that those making the decisions have the best interests of this city and its residents, at heart.