Think tank welcomes LGNZ funding report

Wellington (2 February 2015): The New Zealand Initiative has welcomed the launch of LGNZ’s latest discussion paper on local government funding as an important step towards improving how councils deliver services to communities.

The think tank’s Executive Director, Dr Oliver Hartwich, said New Zealand has one of the most centralised forms of government among developed countries, with 90 cents in every tax dollar spent by officials in Wellington.

“From the Beehive, New Zealand looks like a uniform place, but in reality the communities that make up this country have vastly different needs that can only be met by service providers on the ground,” Hartwich said.

“Devolving functions like education, and welfare to local government is an effective means of improving delivery, as councils must respond to the needs of their communities if they want to compete for tax revenue. This is a proven model in countries like Switzerland and Denmark, and there is no reason why it wouldn’t work here.”

Hartwich, who was part of the working group that advised the authors of the discussion paper, noted that document contained a broad spectrum of ideas aimed at kick-starting a discussion on local government funding.

“While not everyone will agree with these ideas, there is a broad consensus that we need to change how we fund local government if we want it to be viable over the long-term. Sitting back and watching this important part of our democracy crumble is just not acceptable.”

ENDS

© Scoop Media