Rates

Rate rises have become a serious issue within Local Government as we’ve seen too many people prioritising nice-to-haves on top of multiple mandates from Central Government that increase costs. All councils in New Zealand are struggling but we can do better.

There’s no way anyone can promise rock bottom rates. By maintaining our focus of what really matters, we can maintain the level of service expected by those that pay for it (Rate Payers) and to absorb the costs of projects already enacted, for example the ongoing costs of the Sports & Events Centre. The most important thing we can do is to maintain fiscal restraint and discipline, which comes back to an effective and efficient Council.

With the adoption of some commercial thinking and activities we may have a chance to offset some expenses to limit Rate rises. However, as anyone in business will know, where you can’t increase revenue (Rates), you need to look internally for savings, keep a close eye on your operating expenses (Opex), and look for ways to improve.