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GRANT MATTHEW / Fairfax NZ New Plymouth District Mayor Neil Holdom says rates can not double or triple the rate of inflation.
Central Government Plans to Study New Ways to Fund Local Government, Neil Holdom, Mayor of New Plymouth
At the 2018 New Zealand Government Local Conference (LGNZ) in Christchurch this week, Finance Minister Grant Robertson said he would consider new ways to raise funds, including targeted taxes.
Earlier in the year, Holdom stressed the need for boards to have other sources of funding. He proposed to sell reserve lands, including half of the Fitzroy Golf Club, for residential housing to fund flagship projects. But the plan was rejected by the community.
"The New Plymouth District Council was looking at a local option, but the community did not want to go there so they left," Holdom said.
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"We discuss with the central government The central and local government understands that this idea of monitoring rates at the double or triple the level of inflation does not fit well with the aging of the population, especially on fixed incomes such as retirement pensions, and so we have to do something or risk it.
It was said at the conference that the government was making between $ 1.7 billion and $ 1.8 billion in tourism GST profits – and there was a widely held view that which part of this profit should be reinvested in the regions that generated it.
"The conversation we have here is one with the central government, there is this idea that maybe part of the TPS generated da The regions could be returned to the councils to help, in particular, the huge infrastructure costs. Next 10 to 20 years. "
" We know that there is certainly a component of our community struggling to pay the rates and we are trying to try to minimize the increases while ensuring that we do not make noise.
"One of the points raised is that the new government is working much more closely with the councils than the previous administration, so there are high hopes. But these are complicated problems and we know that the central government is not acting quickly, especially when it comes to sharing revenues.
Dunedin Mayor and LGNZ President, Dave Cull, said that "
Communities were reluctant to rate, so councils were inclined not to do what was needed to be done, he said.
At the conference, Robertson announced productivity. Robertson said, "The coalition government has emphasized from the outset our determination to help local governments cope with the increasing pressures on the costs they have had to face. "Since the Shand published its report on local government rates in 2007, the pressures exerted by the"
pressures facing local councils vary widely, that it is about the provision of infrastructure due to the growth of resident populations or the provision of tourist infrastructure against degressive pricing bases – Tips and Tricks
