Hard to see how ICC can justify rent increases
ERIN Moogan (ODT, 25.1.21) was quoted as saying that the Invercargill District Council housing units are selffunded and that the proposed 35% increase will keep rents ‘‘below market rate’’.
Based on the $108 per week paid by pensioners (ODT, 21.1.21) and on the number of flats (215) that may well have various rents applied, the council currently receives about $1.2 million per annum from property rents.
Deducted from these funds are the incidental and amenity subsidies that must be paid, so the council’s rental income decreases.
The proposed 35% rent rise would increase council revenue to over
$1.6 million per annum, less required subsidies. Indeed, even a 20% increase would improve earnings to over
$1.4 million per annum.
Surely there are already sufficient ‘‘selffunding’’ monies available to upgrade existing flats or build new ones.
Knowing that a government rental subsidy may be available to some tenants, including pensioners, it seems that councils assume that they can justify rent increases, such as those proposed in Invercargill, and pat themselves on the back for keeping rents below ‘‘market value’’.
Not so. Everyone pays government tax in some form, some of which is returned as benefits and subsidies. It’s a circlegame of money and the council knows how to play it.
One gets the impression the council may be more concerned about accumulating money than looking after the social wellbeing of people in the community.
Kathleen Baff
Stirling
I’M not surprised the Aurora middle and upper management and our council have no desire to relitigate what happened regarding the neglected maintenance at Aurora.
This was a major health and safety issue so of course the customers — or as I like to call us, the owners — want to get to the bottom of how this came about and who caused it.
This was a respected company bought and paid for by the ratepayers decades ago. Now look at it.
After Pike River, the Government charged WorkSafe with pursuing management with poor safety practices, yet nothing seems to have changed.
People died from the Havelock North water contamination, and only last month the Balclutha council was fined for systemic failures in managing its wastewater plants.
I look at Aurora — it has only been good luck noone was killed or injured.
Decisions were made by more than one person to deliberately create this problem in the pursuit of profit.
With the new lines charges proposal that’s on the table, it’s possible that some people who try really hard not to use too much power for financial reasons could receive a power bill where the line charge is greater than the power consumption.
Mark Wallace
Belleknowes
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BIBLE READING: Truly, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom. — Job 28.28.