Rates - what is fair?: So the council has had another debate about the level of the uniform annual general charge and strongly rejected a proposal to increase it to the full 30 per cent level.

Good leadership from all but three Councillors. Clearly there is majority agreement that such an increase would not be fair across the city and that the council has already pushed close to the limit when it set the charge at $300 per property last year. Their judgment is right.

Under the Annual Value system we will see a broadening of the gap between those paying high and low rates. The only mechanism that currently exists that can address this growing gap is the uniform annual general charge. Over the next 10 year I have no doubt that the uniform annual general charge will increase incrementally to the full 30 per cent but certainly not at the pace proposed by Maureen Forrester!

The underlying problem here is that the council has only one tool on offer to address rating fairness - the uniform annual general charge. The question to be asked is once we arrive at that 30 per cent level of increase, then what?

It is time central government moved away from rates to fund local government. It is time to seriously consider replacing rates with a city tax. We would all contribute through our income, and pay according to our income, not the value of our land. Simple, fair.

Len Brown
Mayoral Candidate - Manukau City

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