Hubbard hits malls with rate rise plan

Dick Hubbard

Auckland City Mayor Dick Hubbard went on the offensive among shoppers yesterday for a 9.7 per cent rate rise, the highest for years, armed with balloons and an animated video.

He denied any tokenism surrounding his appearance at Westfield's St Lukes mall, saying he also intended visiting other shopping centres in coming weeks to help city staff to explain his council's draft annual plan and to hear the public's response.

Mr Hubbard agreed it might be a bold and unprecedented way of selling an almost 10 per cent average rate increase, after the previous council kept overall takings to inflation, but he vowed to gain public support for what was needed to nurture a "modern, vibrant" city.

"No one likes rates increases, we understand that, but people want action," he said.

"They want action on transport, on volcanic cones and on heritage - all the key things for which we are raising targeted rates which have to be used for those purposes and can't be frittered away."

The council also intends raising $1 million in rates and borrowing a further $8 million to increase the city's stock of "affordable" housing after its predecessor sold all its pensioner accommodation to the Government for $83 million.

Mr Hubbard said he was approached at St Lukes yesterday by a former tenant who believed his wife's cancer worsened because of stress caused by uncertainty suffered before the Government stepped in to ensure council houses stayed in public ownership.

Although the previous council kept its average increases to inflation, Mr Hubbard said owners of low-end properties with a median value of $215,100 had suffered rises amounting to 37 per cent over the past three years while the city's infrastructure "stagnated."

Deputy Mayor Bruce Hucker said this compared with 22 per cent for medium-value properties worth around $311,000 and 4.6 per cent for those exceeding $556,600.

He said the council intended narrowing the gap this year by halving to $95 a uniform annual charge introduced by the previous council.

The head of the opposition Citizens and Ratepayers Now team on the council, Scott Milne, derided the mayor's appearance as a cosmetic bid to mark out territory not already commandeered by Dr Hucker.

"Going to shopping malls and handing out balloons for the kids - he is desperate to show he has got an independent thought."

Mr Milne said more than 10,000 households faced rates rises of more than $300 and some could expect "another hit" next year with property revaluations.

He urged ratepayers to register protests at the shopping centre presentations, which will continue at St Lukes this week and at other malls after that.

Dr Hucker acknowledged that the proposed rate rise was "on the high side", but said it would establish a base for a three-year programme for which he believed future annual increases were likely to be "pretty close to the rate of inflation".

Annual plan

Council staff will tour the following shopping centres, with occasional appearances by the mayor:

* St Lukes - this week until Sunday
* Downtown Centre - all next week
* Eastridge - May 2-3
* Newmarket - week starting May 9

Written submissions close May 20
Annual plan hearings June 7-10
Final plan published July 22

Estimate what you will pay by using the council's online rates calculator (see link below)