Whanganui Mayor Andrew Tripe says whoever got the top job in the last election would be facing the same issues he is. Photo / Bevan Conley
Whanganui Mayor Andrew Tripe says whoever got the top job in the last election would be facing the same issues he is. Photo / Bevan Conley
Rates are set to rise steeply in Whanganui this year - bad news for those already struggling with the cost of living.
The combination of high interest rates, inflation, and the lingering effects of supply chain issues and construction costs were the main factor, Whanganui Mayor Andrew Tripe said.
“Thecouncil last year did their best to keep the rates low [3.5 per cent increase] but that’s not sustainable in the long run.
“As a new mayor and council, we’ve actually inherited a legacy of sound investment in infrastructure.
‘We are in a pretty good place right now, so that has cost us over time. We’ve got some debt that goes with it.”
Nobody was immune to increasing costs, Tripe said.
“No matter who had been mayor now, they would be faced with what I’m faced with.”
Grey Power Whanganui president and first-term Whanganui district councillor Ross Fallen said a couple of local Grey Power members recently told him they were cancelling house insurances to pay for other costs.
“They need to pay for food, bills or whatever the rates might be,” Fallen said. “That’s a worry.”
He said the council fought for a national rates review in the past but the current Government had so far said nothing about looking into the country’s rating system.
“That’s where the power to make change sits. In the meantime, all councils get kicked for it.
“Councils only rate to the level they need to operate for the next 12 months. It’s not like they can rate an extra $5 million or $10 million for the hell of it, as a safety net. That can’t be done.”
Rules for rating are set out in the Local Government Act 2002 and in the Local Government (Rating) Act 2002.
Associate local government minister Kieran McAnulty and National Party local government spokesman Simon Watts had been approached to talk about a range of local government issues, including rates, Tripe said.
A Government spokesperson said the rating system was not a specific programme of work on the Government’s agenda at this time.
“However, the funding and financing of local government is being more broadly considered as a fundamental component of the independent Review into the Future for Local Government.
“The purpose of the review is to consider what local government does, how it does it and how it pays for it. The review’s draft report, He mata whāriki, he matawhanui, was released in October 2022.”
Submissions on the draft report close at the end of February and the review’s final report/recommendations are due in June.
Tripe said it was too early to give a possible percentage increase for rates in Whanganui for 2023/24. They kick in on July 1.
“We don’t want to cut services and people don’t want us to. It’s about finding a balance.
“There are costs we just can’t suppress any longer and that’s the reality. Having to go out and signal a high rates increase in my first few months as mayor is not something I’m comfortable with but it is what it is.
“Basically, we have a choice. Do we pay more and carry on? Or do we prioritise and decide what we’re going to stop doing in order to keep the rates smaller?”
He understood average residential rates in Whanganui were about the same as the average electricity bill, around $2500 a year.
The council offers a rates rebate of up to $700 for low-income earners.
Income eligibility is $28,080 but if people earn more, they could still receive one depending on the total costs of their rates and the number of dependants.
Ross Fallen says change must be made at a national level when it comes to rates. Photo / Bevan Conley
Age Concern Whanganui manager Michelle Malcolm said there had to be a good justification for a high rise.
Many elderly people still had mortgages when they retired.
“We are in a bit of a crisis of cost and the tax is getting put back on petrol shortly. How are people supposed to live?” Malcolm said.
“The pension increases each year but that’s only the CPI [Consumer Price Index], so it’s only a small increase.
“It’s hard out there, and now it’s just getting harder and harder.”
Whanganui East resident Xiong Jiujiu said increasing costs had made her family rethink how to spend its money.
“People who pay rates are those who own their own house and, to some degree, we are lucky to be able to do that.
“For ordinary people like us, though, yes it’s making life harder. We also have to work harder which means more stress in daily life. That might affect our mental health.”
Fallen said there was an assumption that councillors were wealthy and could afford any rate increases that came along.
“That’s rubbish. I’m the poster boy of ‘this affects me more than most of you’.
“I would challenge anyone to have a look at council’s books and if they say ‘well, close the library’, that’s just a drop in the bucket.
“When you close down a service in order to save a bit of money, you’re then impacting on God knows how many people who use it.”
The Sarjeant Gallery redevelopment is one project that has polarised opinion amongst ratepayers.
Whanganui District Council chief executive David Langford said it would make up around 1 per cent of rates for 2023/24, up from half a per cent in the last two years.
The two biggest costs to the council were water networks and roading/footpaths.
“If you look at something like plastic pipes, they have gone up in price by something like 98 per cent,” Langford said.
He said the cost of materials like steel and concrete had also skyrocketed.
Tripe said challenging economic times would bring an “absolute focus” on a project’s viability and feasibility.
“I can see the [aspirations and future projects] committee having a list of project priorities, and there might be a line in the middle which will be ‘in scope and out of scope’.
“If they are above that line they’ll get done. If we’ve got less money, the line goes a bit higher.”
