No More Rates Media Archive

UK 'Rates' Battle

Council Tax is the UK equivalent of our council rates – the tax is based on property values. There is widespread opposition to the tax and to tax increases. To ‘read all about it’ visit the UK equivalent of NoMoreRates – over there the campaign is called www.isitfair.co.nz

Rotorua ratepayers speak out

From the Rotorua Daily Post comes this story -

Elderly struggle to pay rising rates
By ABIGAIL CASPARI

Rapidly rising rates are leaving elderly people struggling to pay for food and being forced to wrap themselves in a blanket because they cannot afford heating, says Rotorua Grey Power spokesman Rolf Booker.

"Rates are increasing well above the rate of inflation," Mr Booker said.

Mr Booker was among about 25 people at a public rates forum in Rotorua yesterday afternoon.

The Local Government Rates Inquiry is holding a series of forums with councils and the public throughout Nw Zealand.

Its purpose is to seek useful information about how local government funding - including rates - is working and how it can work better. The panel will prepare a report to the Government, with submissions closing at the end of this month.

Many at the meeting spoke about the unfairness of the rating system, with some suggesting other methods of funding, including a tourism bed tax, petrol tax and a user pays system.

An elderly person living alone receives just under $17,000 in superannuation while a married retired couple's combined superannuation was around $26,000 before tax. Rotorua ratepayer Alan Deverson argued that a "bed tax" would be a fair way of recouping some of the expenses involved in being a tourist town. "Rotorua regards itself as a tourist town and often boasts of the benefit to the local economy. Very little of this revenue finds its way into council coffers while on the other hand there is a great deal of expense as a result of visitors to the area in sanitation, roads and litter collection."

Budget Backpacker Hostels New Zealand spokesman Mark Dumble was adamant a bed tax would not be a good idea.

His industry was one which is "price sensitive" and increasing the cost of accommodation by introducing a bed tax could give international tourists the impression New Zealand is too expensive.

Rotorua district councillor Charles Sturt noted that business and tourism sectors already paid four times more than residential ratepayers in general rates.

Mr Sturt questioned why Government departments, churches and hospitals did not pay rates.

He was also concerned about the amount of Maori- or Crown-owned land which avoided having to paying rates.

Taupo district councillor Christine McElwee said the costs of achieving the aims of legislation like the Resource Management Act could be a major driver of a council's spending. Trying to prevent geothermal subsidence in Taupo had so far cost about 25,000 residents more than $6 million.

She said local councils also needed to take responsibility for rising rates. "Some councils need to look in the mirror regarding the cost efficiencies of their internally motivated expenditure before they overplay their hand by blaming central Government."

It’s Your money they’re spending

From the Waitakere City Council comes this information for ratepayers

Media Release
12 April, 2007

Council to restructure Trash to Fashion to secure a bright future.

Trash to Fashion – the fashion show where the garments are made from recycled materials rescued from the rubbish bin - is to be taken to a whole new level.

The council’s City Development Committee has agreed to one-off additional funding in the 2007/08 budget, to ensure the show can go ahead this year while it is being restructured.

The committee has voted to provide up to an extra $190,000 in the 2007/2008 year.

However, Councillor Judy Lawley, chairman of the Culture, Arts and Events Special Committee says that the extra funding has been underwritten rather than granted.

“The events company hired to stage the show is expected to find as much of the extra money through sponsorship, as possible” she says.

Councillor Lawley says that the council has faith in the Trash to Fashion concept.

“The concept isn’t the problem. The show actually has an international reputation. The problem is that it has ‘outgrown its strength’; it isn’t structured in a way that can sustain its growth or capitalise on its success,” Councillor Lawley says.

“With a more commercial structure and realistic marketing, it can have a very bright future,” she says..

“We didn’t want to drop the show, we just wanted to find a way to stop it losing money. After all it has become a Waitakere icon. It is very well supported in schools and elsewhere and there would be thousands of disappointed people if we canned it,” she says.

Councillor Lawley says that Trash to Fashion also helps to educate the public – and especially young people – about the Zero Waste to Landfill message, as well as providing a popular show which could rival events like Wearable Arts.

“So, the extra budget this year – which is a one off and I want to emphasise that – buys us the time to do the restructuring this year and fully implement it in 2008,” she says.

Part of the restructure will involve hiring a professional events company to produce the show. It will have to find significantly increased sponsorship and fund a much larger marketing budget.

“We don’t want to have a gap year while we restructure because there is a real danger the show will lose momentum – which will make it more difficult to secure sponsorships in the future,” she says.

“The best option is to give it enough resources to maintain momentum in the short term while undertaking a restructure that will set it up for the future. After that, we look forward to the amount of council support reducing as it becomes more and more self-sufficient,” Councillor Lawley says.

She says the council has taken similar action with other public attractions that needed “to gain traction”.

“Some things are just worth doing for the good of the community and it is our duty to see that they get done. Money isn’t the only measurement.

“West Wave and the Massey Leisure Centre are cases in point. The council provided initial support and then expected to see those facilities standing on their own feet and needing less and less support from us. We established the Trust Stadium the same way.

“And we support all manner of events without expecting any kind of return on the investment,” she says.

ENDS