Minister for Local Government Simeon Brown has today announced in the final post-Cabinet Press conference for 2024 a raft of changes designed to refocus local government and keep rates down.

“At long last sanity will be returned to councils” said Sam Warren, Local Government Campaigns Manager for the Taxpayers’ Union.

“Local rates have increased an average of 14 percent this year alone, the highest increase seen in 20 years. Returning councils’ focus is long overdue.”

“For years now the Taxpayers’ Union has been lobbying for the changes announced today – it’s certainly a massive win for us, and a massive win for all ratepayers”, Warren continues.

“Removing the four well-beings that have dragged council’s attention away from core services is a huge step in the right direction. The message is clear; stop blowing money on nice-to-haves and focus on the basics like roads and pipes.”

“The Minister has also announced a yearly benchmarking tool to improve transparency on council performance. Suspiciously similar to the Taxpayers’ Union’s own benchmarking tool - Ratepayersreport.nz - we’ll forgive the Minister for what I’m sure is very sincere form of flattery.”

“Ratepayers will have greater ability to compare council performance on issues such as council debt, unit ratings and forecasts, and a number of other important KPIs that put pressure on councils to remain accountable.”

“Perhaps most importantly, Minister Brown has expressed interest in exploring rates pegging similar to those used overseas to stop the endless bloat at councils. If the Minister plays his cards right, the days of councils ramming through double-digit rates hikes year after year could be coming to an end.”

© Scoop Media