Deputy mayor to fight rates hike

Invercargill’s deputy mayor is set to ditch his civic duties for a moment and in a unique twist will front his own council on behalf of a ratepayers group.

Deputy mayor Nobby Clark will address councillors on Tuesday when the Invercargill City Council holds public hearings on its draft annual plan.

Clark will present on behalf of the Invercargill Ratepayers Advocacy Group and will urge councillors not to bump up rates beyond the 4% that was initially forecast.

On the back of rising costs council will now consult on a 7.78% increase as part of the council’s 2022-2023 draft annual plan.

Clark has been advised by council staff that if he does join the submitters in the consultation process he won’t be able to vote on the annual plan.

He has been told it would signal a predetermined position before the vote.

Clark accepted the advice but will proceed with submitting on behalf of the ratepayers group anyway, forgoing his vote.

He said he had already tried to get his thoughts across to councillors internally but many had not even responded to him.

‘‘I might as well have been talking to a brick wall.’’

Clark said what he would say as a submitter on Tuesday might make his council colleagues uneasy.

Clark believed some of his council colleagues had a predetermined view themselves on the rates hike. The difference was they have expressed those views behind closed doors rather than in public as he has. ‘‘A colleague said to me in workshop prior to this, that he thought that the 7.7% rates being proposed was OK, and that anybody that thought it should be 4% is dumb and downright stupid.

‘‘So forgetting the derogatory comments, that to me shows he has got a predetermined position as well.’’

Clark said there had been indications that an open workshop would be held to outline to the public the potential financial leavers that could be used to scale back the rates increase, but that had not happened and he was frustrated by that.

The deputy mayor said the 3.78% on top of the 4% equated to about $2.6m and he felt there were many ways council could cover that. ‘‘I could find that money overnight in a budget of $116 million.’’

On top of the rate increase the Southland museum and art gallery was the other hot topic in the draft annual plan.

There were 111 written responses with the majority of respondents in favour of a new building. The preferred option of a $75m larger build was the most popular, with only three submitters wanting to see the smaller new-build option.

Following the public hearing council will deliberate on the annual plan on May 17, 2022. After the council’s resolutions, final budgeting will be completed ahead of the adoption of the Annual Plan before the end of June 2022.

‘‘A colleague said to me in workshop prior to this, that he thought that the 7.7% rates being proposed was OK, and that anybody that thought it should be 4% is dumb and downright stupid.’’ Nobby Clark, pictured Invercargill deputy mayor