A Napier City Council candidate who claimed the city's rates had risen more than 10 times the rate of inflation is standing by that; despite the mayor suggesting his claims were for political gain.
Larry Dallimore, who is standing for council in the Ahuriri Ward, posted a graph to a social media site earlier in the week which stipulated rates had increased 11 times the rate of inflation.
The following night, Napier Mayor Bill Dalton posted on his own Facebook page that this information was "absolute hogwash".
"NCC [Napier City Council], over the last 7 years (2009-2016) has had the lowest rate increase in New Zealand," he wrote, "it's sad that some people decide to distort information for political gain."
The rates for 2016/17 increased overall by 3.6 per cent, with increases for residential and rural properties averaging between 3.6 per cent and 4.4 per cent.