The Government
has unveiled proposals to abolish regional councillors and hand control of those councils to a board of mayors. Those mayors would decide the long-term future of representation in their regions.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Local Government Minister Simon Watts implored councils to “stop doing dumb stuff” when announcing annual rates increases would be capped at between 2% and 4%.
Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown has reacted angrily to the proposed rates cap, arguing it will kneecap major projects like the City Rail Link (CRL) that the city needs.
It’s all while Brown proposes a 7.9% rate increase next year, primarily to fund the $235 million cost of running the CRL when it opens to passengers.
Victoria University of Wellington associate professor in politics Lara Greaves told The Front Page that it’s hard because everyone’s in a pinch and would like lower rates.
“On a day-to-day basis, the council does fund a lot of good things that we use a lot,” Greaves said.
“So there then becomes a bit of an issue around if [a] council has less money, to be able to fund these things, they have to prioritise different bits and pieces.
“It may mean that we end up in more of a user-pays system or something along those lines, which then becomes a cultural issue for New Zealanders, who are used to free or cheap public pools or library services.
“The majority of polling shows that 75% of people support these rate caps, but a lot of that comes down to how you ask the question, though.
“So, if I say, ‘Do you want lower taxes or lower rates?’, people go ‘yes’. But then if I say, ‘If that means that you have to pay every time you go to the library or have to pay for services or some other kind of levy or tax, would you want that?’, people go ‘no’,” she said.
Listen to the full episode to hear more about:
- Local government reforms
- Challenges for the future
- What rates are used for
- The political strategies behind the proposals
The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5am. The podcast is presented by Chelsea Daniels, an Auckland-based journalist with a background in world news and crime/justice reporting who joined NZME in 2016.
You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
