Why do CEOs of local bodies get such exorbitant salaries? Furthermore, local body elections are a joke, as councillors cant get involved in â˜administrative matters.
My rates in Nelson have increased 165% since 2006. How could anybody preparing to retire at that time have envisioned the reckless spending by council on entertainment, nice-to-haves and other non-essentials, while basic infrastructure was allowed to rot? Both National and the Coalition parties have allowed local councils to spend irresponsibly and raise rates beyond affordability.
I am grateful that my rates allow me to go to the toilet, shower, run in the park, use my local library and drive to work. But I am not happy to pay for festivals, grants to support alcohol and mental health support groups, economic business development strategies and grants, trips to China to study tourism, trips to Amsterdam to study bike use erc, and the grants they give to the myriad of migrant and refugee communities. Councils need to stick to essential infrastructure. Also leave all the pipe dream rubbish and responsibilities of the central government agencies to them. This is why our rates cost so much and creep up every year for these rubbish (pun intended ) non-core activities. Also look at some of the titles for roles they advertise.
Councils and Government need to stop looking at home owners and tax payers as cash cows , 1 day the people will revolt
what about the GST on rates? tax on a tax.plus owner occupiers pay out of post tax income yet investors get to claim as an expense.this country reams the working class
Our rates jumped 15%. So much for Goff keeping rates rises to the rate of inflation. Whats wrong with council? Time for a vote of no confidence.
Rates or a charge for infrastructure are obviously a necessary evil,however 2 things need to change1) every adult in this country above the age of 18 need to pay this tax, not home owners, everyone uses the services and everyone wants the infrastructure2) and this is the big one, all council managers and councillors should be personally liable for any decisions that are found to be flawed and against the recommendation of actual experts who understand the cost blow outs and the overall picture of a decision a council can make for all the wrong reasons, you would stop all bad spending overnight when you put a personal cost to the people who make the decisions and who would maybe stop sit back and take advice before writing that blank cheque that is not their money to squander.
Dave Cull is quite wrong about a number of local government issues and is very wrong about affordability. Councils have to get back to basics, cut staff numbers and to quit interpreting the RMA as a licence to make money and block much needed housing.
As an ex-planner I can say there was little focus on efficiency in council I worked in. If they can then they will spend. Particularly on pet projects. There is little consideration on the impact of rates on everyday people.And of course higher rates mean higher rental prices!
Way too many overpaid managers, who rely on consultants to do the real work at a much higher cost.
rates are just a tax, so why do we pay GST on rates? Thats a tax on a tax...ridiculous.
The following was from the Otago Daily Times dated 29th August. Sums up most councilsA pay rise for Dunedins elected officials was accepted without discussion yesterday.Dunedin city councillors, including the mayor, will get a 5.7% pay rise, backdated to July 1.
I think that the Central Government should legislate to stop Councils increasing rates by more than the increase in the cost of living. The homeowners are going backwards all the time as pay increases do not match the increase in rates every year. Also it would be fairer to rate on the services provided e.g. we have no town sewerage no town water etc. The only thing we get from the council is a recycle bin collected once a week.
The issue is not so much what you get for your rates, it is the fact that in the last 12 years rates have increased 3-1/2 times faster than the CPI and yet we still have councils with failing infrastructure. It seems many Councils are tooo focused on attracting new business and tourists, and therefore spending ratepayers money on nice to have items or business subsidies, and not focusing on ensuring safe and reliable basic services that they are obligated to supply.
Rating the elderly out of there homes along with increasing insurance, water and electricity costs, i can understand why all these reverse mortgage sharks are circling
no, dissolve them all. cancel local government entirely, provide portals, apps and cloud services to replace the management structure of the councils and community boards, (they dont work and become a gravy train and lead to incompetant people with lots of friends doing nothing of use) employ more workers and manage them through service centres, provide minimum services for the public at the service centres, their design should be based on functions performed rather than the need to be central. automate all communications via property location, create a department or ministry that manages the control and regulation of all areas. locate the centres in places unlikely to be adversely affected by natural disasters and above all, make it transparent, they are a scourge on us all.
Councils need to focus on their bread and butter. Look after roads, drainage, water, sewage, rubbish... and no more wasting money on wet houses for alcoholics, social housing or airport runway extensions. Let Housing NZ buy all the councils social housing and let the airport company pay for the extension no airline wants to use - stop socialising the risk.And councils need a good clean out of their management staff - too many chiefs, not enough indians. Bring in salary caps - council CEOs shouldnt be paid $416k+ per year. Thats money that should be used to keep rates increases at or below inflation and improve services.
Most of the comments here reflect the mood of the people, the ones who have to pay for these under qualified clowns to rob us blind. And when it all goes wrong they just walk away. They are setting up society for a revolt and the sooner the better while we can still afford to live.
âAnd for that people got services like garbage collection, recycling, roading, libraries, swimming pools, water, sewerage and a host of other services.âThey say Western Bay (Tauranga) has the highest rates yet we dont see some of these things happening. Recycling and rubbish are paid privately and the roads dont seem to get sorted before the next influx of Aucklanders, leading to crazy congestion. So where is the money going?
Not really. Core services like water etc should be maintained, they have been neglected and now need updating/repaired.The issue is around pet-projects, investment ideas, tourism ventures, social housing, overblown budgets etc. These are not the role of a local council, a council exists to manage and maintain the infrastructure.
Why do CEOs of local bodies get such exorbitant salaries? Furthermore, local body elections are a joke, as councillors cant get involved in â˜administrative matters.
My rates in Nelson have increased 165% since 2006. How could anybody preparing to retire at that time have envisioned the reckless spending by council on entertainment, nice-to-haves and other non-essentials, while basic infrastructure was allowed to rot? Both National and the Coalition parties have allowed local councils to spend irresponsibly and raise rates beyond affordability.
I am grateful that my rates allow me to go to the toilet, shower, run in the park, use my local library and drive to work. But I am not happy to pay for festivals, grants to support alcohol and mental health support groups, economic business development strategies and grants, trips to China to study tourism, trips to Amsterdam to study bike use erc, and the grants they give to the myriad of migrant and refugee communities. Councils need to stick to essential infrastructure. Also leave all the pipe dream rubbish and responsibilities of the central government agencies to them. This is why our rates cost so much and creep up every year for these rubbish (pun intended ) non-core activities. Also look at some of the titles for roles they advertise.
Councils and Government need to stop looking at home owners and tax payers as cash cows , 1 day the people will revolt
what about the GST on rates? tax on a tax.plus owner occupiers pay out of post tax income yet investors get to claim as an expense.this country reams the working class
Our rates jumped 15%. So much for Goff keeping rates rises to the rate of inflation. Whats wrong with council? Time for a vote of no confidence.
Rates or a charge for infrastructure are obviously a necessary evil,however 2 things need to change1) every adult in this country above the age of 18 need to pay this tax, not home owners, everyone uses the services and everyone wants the infrastructure2) and this is the big one, all council managers and councillors should be personally liable for any decisions that are found to be flawed and against the recommendation of actual experts who understand the cost blow outs and the overall picture of a decision a council can make for all the wrong reasons, you would stop all bad spending overnight when you put a personal cost to the people who make the decisions and who would maybe stop sit back and take advice before writing that blank cheque that is not their money to squander.
Dave Cull is quite wrong about a number of local government issues and is very wrong about affordability. Councils have to get back to basics, cut staff numbers and to quit interpreting the RMA as a licence to make money and block much needed housing.
As an ex-planner I can say there was little focus on efficiency in council I worked in. If they can then they will spend. Particularly on pet projects. There is little consideration on the impact of rates on everyday people.And of course higher rates mean higher rental prices!
Way too many overpaid managers, who rely on consultants to do the real work at a much higher cost.
rates are just a tax, so why do we pay GST on rates? Thats a tax on a tax...ridiculous.
The following was from the Otago Daily Times dated 29th August. Sums up most councilsA pay rise for Dunedins elected officials was accepted without discussion yesterday.Dunedin city councillors, including the mayor, will get a 5.7% pay rise, backdated to July 1.
I think that the Central Government should legislate to stop Councils increasing rates by more than the increase in the cost of living. The homeowners are going backwards all the time as pay increases do not match the increase in rates every year. Also it would be fairer to rate on the services provided e.g. we have no town sewerage no town water etc. The only thing we get from the council is a recycle bin collected once a week.
The issue is not so much what you get for your rates, it is the fact that in the last 12 years rates have increased 3-1/2 times faster than the CPI and yet we still have councils with failing infrastructure. It seems many Councils are tooo focused on attracting new business and tourists, and therefore spending ratepayers money on nice to have items or business subsidies, and not focusing on ensuring safe and reliable basic services that they are obligated to supply.
Rating the elderly out of there homes along with increasing insurance, water and electricity costs, i can understand why all these reverse mortgage sharks are circling
no, dissolve them all. cancel local government entirely, provide portals, apps and cloud services to replace the management structure of the councils and community boards, (they dont work and become a gravy train and lead to incompetant people with lots of friends doing nothing of use) employ more workers and manage them through service centres, provide minimum services for the public at the service centres, their design should be based on functions performed rather than the need to be central. automate all communications via property location, create a department or ministry that manages the control and regulation of all areas. locate the centres in places unlikely to be adversely affected by natural disasters and above all, make it transparent, they are a scourge on us all.
Councils need to focus on their bread and butter. Look after roads, drainage, water, sewage, rubbish... and no more wasting money on wet houses for alcoholics, social housing or airport runway extensions. Let Housing NZ buy all the councils social housing and let the airport company pay for the extension no airline wants to use - stop socialising the risk.And councils need a good clean out of their management staff - too many chiefs, not enough indians. Bring in salary caps - council CEOs shouldnt be paid $416k+ per year. Thats money that should be used to keep rates increases at or below inflation and improve services.
Most of the comments here reflect the mood of the people, the ones who have to pay for these under qualified clowns to rob us blind. And when it all goes wrong they just walk away. They are setting up society for a revolt and the sooner the better while we can still afford to live.
âAnd for that people got services like garbage collection, recycling, roading, libraries, swimming pools, water, sewerage and a host of other services.âThey say Western Bay (Tauranga) has the highest rates yet we dont see some of these things happening. Recycling and rubbish are paid privately and the roads dont seem to get sorted before the next influx of Aucklanders, leading to crazy congestion. So where is the money going?
Not really. Core services like water etc should be maintained, they have been neglected and now need updating/repaired.The issue is around pet-projects, investment ideas, tourism ventures, social housing, overblown budgets etc. These are not the role of a local council, a council exists to manage and maintain the infrastructure.