A Waikato mayor’s message to ratepayers over where their money is spent – complete with a barb at Wellington – has prompted a pithy comeback from the Local Government Minister.
By Jordan Smith, Local Democracy Reporter
Matamata-Piako District Council Mayor Ash Tanner took out a two-page ad in Matamata’s local paper Scene last week, bearing the council logo and contact details, going into detail as to what exactly rates fund.
Particulars ranged from 224 kilometres of footpath, 109 elderly units and 1200 acres of grass mown, joining the expected roading, water and wastewater statistics.
He believes local councils are “copping flak” from central government about overspending and pushing rates too high.
Within the ad, he added, “I don’t even think the Government have a clue about what local councils deliver on the ground.”
However, Local Government Minister Simon Watts said the country was playing catch-up on years of under-investment, not spending up on new rules.
Tanner said he was "pretty disappointed because whether it's an election sound-bite, I'm not sure... they say we're overrating and wasting money."
"I haven't seen it in the last 13 years, where we go out to waste money. I'm not sure where they get that from."
He added he was unimpressed by the discourse from central government surrounding local rates, a point he’s expressed previously.
"They're talking about a maximum of 4% rate increase but they fail to tell you that excludes water and wastewater. Well, water and wastewater is the very thing that is driving rates up to an unaffordable level.“
He referenced regulations surrounding those two factors as the culprit behind cost increases, pointing to the Matamata treatment plant upgrade going from $11 million last year to $68 million now.
"Now that's chasing new regulations trying to meet new regulation standards."
The Government has proposed a 2-4% cap on rates increases in a bid to reduce pressure on household budgets.
When announcing the policy in December, Local Government Minister Simon Watts said ratepayers deserve councils that live within their means and focus on the basics.
In response to Tanner, Watts said the new regulations were embedded to “strip out excessive and unnecessary regulatory costs” to ensure compliance requirement reached “the level needed for safe, effective water services”.
“The Government knows that the unavoidable solution to years of unsustainable management of council water services including underinvestment in water infrastructure comes at a cost to everyday Kiwis.
“Let me be very clear that increasing costs to councils and ratepayers for water services are generally not due to ‘new water regulations’ but are due to the requirement to address years of underinvestment and to meet existing regulations – under a new effective and active compliance regime led by the Water Services Authority.”
He added the exclusion of water-related revenue and expenditure is rates-cap excluded because of the currently existing economic regulations, citing it “will stop councils shifting cost pressures from rates to water charges”.
Tanner said he’s lost count of how many times he’s heard ratepayers don’t get their money’s worth. He said a “lack of understanding drives people’s frustration”.
He added many “didn't realise it was so vast until you actually put it into figures”, leading to a positive response from the community after the ad was put out.
"I'm not an advocate for pushing rates up as high as we can. I know people are struggling out there but what I'm saying is I think rates are still genuinely value for money for the majority of households."
“I campaigned on that we [council] need to be more transparent and we need to let our communities know exactly what we’re doing... I’m going to give them the good news and the bad news.”
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air
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