Minister: Councils to prioritise ‘must-haves’

Gore district councillor Joe Stringer has been met with silence after asking his fellow councillors about council funds. “What happens when we hit our monetary cap and can’t borrow any more? What does the council do? Do they declare bankruptcy? What happens then?” he asked at a meeting on Tuesday night, when Gore district councillors discussed a proposed 21.4% rise. The Gore District Council was one of many around the country reaching a tipping point, with a small ratepayer base, limited income, high debt and big bills coming in. Ratepayers filled public meetings over Environment Southland’s proposed 23% average rise, Clutha ratepayers faced rates rises of up to 25% a year for the next three years, Southland District Council rates could increase by 14%, and in Invercargill they could rise by an average of 9.17%. A report commissioned by Local Government New Zealand found that, nationwide, homeowners were facing average rates rises of 15%, according to data in draft long-term plans across 48 councils, averaging at about $8 more per week per household. “Councils are acutely aware they need to balance the need for investment with affordable increases, but the pressure has reached tipping point,” LGNZ vice-president and Lower Hutt mayor Campbell Barry said. At a meeting at Otautau on Monday, hosted by Groundswell Eastern Southland, about 100 ratepayers asked Environment Southland to tighten its belt and stop its ‘’senseless’’ spending, member Sue Allison said. “We need ES to know the ratepayers of Southland want to put a stop to this senseless bureaucracy and wasteful spending that they seem hell-bent on implementing.’’ ES staff were calculating people’s rates increases as they arrived at the meeting. Nobody in the room raised their hand when chief financial officer Tanea Hawkins asked who would be getting a rate decrease. A meeting in Waimahaka, which drew about 30 people on Wednesday, called for Environment Southland to apply a nil rates increase for 12 months. The motion, passed without a dissent, noted the Government was changing the rules and as one speaker from the floor said: “We don’t know where they’re going be in 12 months’ time. “Let’s just pull our heads in.” Another added that “a hell of a lot of people are making a deficit’’ at present. “We can’t afford 20% increases, I’m sorry.’’ Hawkins earlier asked for feedback that didn’t simply say not to do something, but proposed ideas for what the council should do to confront the issues it needed to. At the council meeting in Gore on Tuesday, councillors discussed ways to trim costs for next year’s rates increase, such as selling assets, cutting services, sharing services with other councils and even amalgamation. Cr Robert McKenzie told councillors that the council’s debt would reach $61 million next year. “Do we go to Government and say people are going to be moving out of their houses because of these rate increases?” he asked. In a press release, mayor Ben Bell said: “We have inherited a large amount of debt and are remarkably close to our debt ceiling, therefore it is crucial we pay this down despite experiencing the heightened effects of interest payments.” Local Government Minister Simeon Brown said he was ‘’concerned’’ any time he heard about ratepayers facing large-scale rate increases, but he did not answer questions put to him by about how the Government could help councils balance the books. “Like most New Zealanders, central government is having to prioritise the musthaves over the nice-to-haves. For the Government, this means funding essential services and critical infrastructure. I expect local councils to adopt a similar approach,’’ he said. Environment Southland would host a public meeting on Monday night for people keen to find out more about the proposals in Environment Southland’s Long-Term Plan. The meeting was being held in the council chambers on the corner of Price St and North Rd in Invercargill, from 5.30pm for a cuppa, with the meeting to start at 6pm.