Opinion: Stratford Mayor Neil Volzke - what is the future of local government?

What is the future of local government and what does it mean for Stratford District Council, asks Stratford mayor Neil Volzke. Photo / File

OPINION

The long-awaited report on the Future of Local Government has been released. The final report is the outcome of two years of data gathering, brainstorming and consultation that left no stone unturned in a quest to answer the question “What now, for the local government sector?”. After stripping the Three Waters services away from councils, that was the question we all asked ourselves and the Government responded by commissioning this review.

It should have been done prior to the Three Waters debate but we can’t turn back the clock. Many local government people, myself included, were sceptical about the Government’s sincerity and commitment to the review and thought the review was little more than a PR exercise to pacify and keep the sector happy. If you had asked me a month ago, I would still have said the report was headed for a dusty shelf in the mire of Wellington’s bureaucracy.

But after reading it, I have changed my mind and I now have some hope that parts of it at least, will be actioned by whichever government is in power after the October election. There are 17 recommendations in the report that address a broad range of issues and the solutions offered are promoted as a collective offering that will contribute to a better future for local government. There are two biggies for me: future funding of councils and the re-organisation of councils’ structure (aka amalgamation).

The future funding of councils is a huge challenge as the current model is simply unsustainable. This year’s rate increases right across the country are ample proof that the current system cannot fund itself adequately to provide the services expected of councils. The review seeks to address this by adding new revenue streams that include: an annual transfer of revenue equivalent to GST charged on rates, central government pays rates on Crown property, government consideration of the funding impact on local government of proposed policy decisions and significant funding to support local priorities, place-based agreements and devolution of roles. This list is not everything and further suggestions compliment the five key funding recommendations in the report.

I think this will be music to the ears of many councils and I imagine most will welcome the recommendations that would see a significant increase in revenue for each, but there is a problem and a question that needs an answer. Will either of the two major political parties pick up and support these recommendations post-October? We need to hear clearly from both parties, is this suite of recommendations a reality or is this heading for that dusty shelf?

The other standout group of recommendations was centred on strengthening local democracy and the political re-organisation. Included in the recommended changes were lowering the voting age to 16, providing for a four-year local electoral term, lowering the threshold for Māori wards and adopting an STV voting system as the nationwide method for local elections. Unlike the funding recommendations, I don’t see this grouping having the same universal support and it is likely that some robust debate will occur around each of them.

Likewise for the recommendation to re-organise councils, possibly into unitary authorities or a different arrangement with a “combined council”. Each requires some form of amalgamation, and each will have advantages and disadvantages depending on the individual councils involved. Already we have heard some war cries and comments that joining-up councils has been tried before, it was resisted and failed. But the review team’s recommendations are different than on previous occasions. Their call is for the process to be council-led, not government-led, and the timing is such that the collective pressures on individual councils that challenge their current sustainability, might just present an opportunity that proves irresistible to some. Time will tell but with changed circumstances, increased pressures, the Three Waters aftermath and different incentives, this time around my crystal ball is shining a green light on amalgamations occurring somewhere, somehow.

• Neil Volzke is the mayor of Stratford District.