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RNZ News
15-07-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
West Coast Regional Council chair defends rate rises
West Coast Regional Council chair Peter Haddock. Photo: LDR / Lois Williams The West Coast Regional Council is defending its rate rises, and contesting figures put out by Taxpayers' Union showing the council topped the country for rate hikes over the past three years. Council chair Peter Haddock said the figures were flawed. The West Coast Regional Council's [WCRC] total rates increase this year was in fact 18 percent - higher than the Taxpayers Union figure of 12 percent, he said. The council itself previously reported the increase as 12 percent, but the figure did not include targeted rates and charges for Civil Defence and the new District Plan. But the total rate rise over three years was lower than the Taypayers' Union figure of 65 percent, Haddock said. "Our cumulative rate increase was more than 10 percent less than that … it was still high at 55 percent over three years but there are very good reasons why Coast rates have increased," he said. The council had previously started to fail on delivering mandatory work programmes because of cost cutting in previous years, and it was running an unbalanced budget, using mining bond deposits and prudent flood protection reserves held on behalf of ratepayers, to cover operational costs, Haddock said. "As a council, we couldn't continue this approach which amounted to kicking the can down the road," he said. "It would mean the next generation had to pay for unbalanced budgets just to make increases in WCRC rate requirements look better on paper." The cost of administering the new combined District Plan had also landed on the regional council, along with the cost of upgrading flood protection for Westport, Franz Josef and Hokitika. "I know West Coasters are doing it tough, and I know average incomes for many people are considerably less than the rest of the country. But I also know kicking the can along isn't good business practice," Haddock said. The impact of the 18 percent rate rise on individual ratepayers would vary. "Those with properties with a higher capital value will pay more rates than those with a lower capital value, that is fair." "We will not … live beyond our means. The government expects us to be financially prudent, and more importantly, so do Coasters. We've worked hard to rebuild council and ensure it is positioned to deliver for the community." The WCRC's job was to create the environment for the community and businesses to thrive, the chair said. "Our environment is dynamic … we've been investing heavily in flood protection work to ensure our communities remain safe and businesses can keep operating." Striking the right balance between development and management of effects was difficult when those effects took a long time to appear or were not fully understood, but the council had to ensure future generations did not have to pay for its mistakes, Haddock said. As the council completed the flood protection schemes, the costs passed on to the community would significantly reduce, he said. LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
RNZ News
14-07-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Council rate increases of up to 65% too much, Taxpayers' Union says
Photo: Jo Danilo / Supplied Rates increases at levels double the scale of inflation over the past three years show local bodies' spending needs to be reined in, the Taxpayers' Union says. The lobby group has released its rates dashboard which ranks local bodies across the country on how much they have increased rates. It's been campaigning for the government to bring in a cap on rates increases . Its survery found, on average, rates have increased 34.4 percent in total over the past three years - that's more than two-and-a-half times the rate of inflation during the same period. "Over the last three years West Coast Regional Council had a rates increase of 65 percent. It's absolutely up there and it's driving the cost of living for a lot of people," Taxpayers Union local government campaigns manager Sam Warren said. West Coast Regional Council has been approached for a response. Other noticeable rates increases were seen in Wellington with the capital's city council increasing rates 47 percent while Wellington Regional Council was up 54 percent. Taranaki, Queenstown, Hastings and Central Otago were also among the top 10. "We'd like to see a return to focus on the basics particularly when families are doing it so tough," Warren said. He said while each council had it's own needs and challenges, spending was increasing across councils in various areas. "Employee costs were up 7 or 8 percent and finance costs up 16 percent off the top of my head. "I make a career of finding a lot of council waste, so it's endless obviously, but really I think right now when it's so difficult they need to tighten their belts," he said. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Otago Daily Times
11-07-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Oranga Tamariki's near $2m bill for 'bloated' comms team
By Russell Palmer of RNZ Documents show Oranga Tamariki pays nearly $2 million to its 14 communications staff - after cutting five staff and $500,000 in the past year - while other workers are banned from speaking to media without authorisation. The revelations came from an Official Information Act (OIA) response to questions raised by the Taxpayers Union lobby group. In it, the Ministry for Children confirmed that as of March 31, it employed two media advisers, two communications advisers, two senior media advisers, six senior communications advisers, a chief media adviser and a manager of organisational communications. The total salary budget for the team was $1.97m. "All staff in the roles listed above currently earn over $100,000 per year," the ministry said in its response. A report from a select committee review shows this was down from 19 staff at a cost of $2.72m as of June 30 the previous year, though staff numbers and costs have fluctuated over the past five financial years. Cost figures have been rounded. • 2019/20: 23 total staff, $2.47m • 2020/21: 18 total staff, $2.03m • 2021/22: 16 total staff, $2.00m • 2022/23: 19 total staff, $2.55m • 2023/24: 19 total staff, $2.72m The OIA response also provided details about Oranga Tamariki's code of conduct relating to engagement with the media, which included a directive that no information was to be provided without explicit authorisation. It cited privacy and confidential information as a reason, saying that given the nature of Oranga Tamariki's work, "we have access to confidential, sensitive and personal information. It is expected that all our people will show integrity and follow the law, our policies and systems regarding collecting, storing, accessing and sharing of Oranga Tamariki information". "We do not speak, or provide information, to the media regarding any work-related activity, event or query, unless explicitly authorised," the code states. "It is important that we continue to hold this duty of confidentiality of information even after we leave Oranga Tamariki." Staff were encouraged to speak up about any serious wrongdoing they became aware of "using appropriate avenues", pointing to the protected disclosures whistleblowing regime as one option. In a statement, the Taxpayers' Union said the ministry was "drowning in PR while kids fall through the cracks". "A bloated comms team paid at least 30 percent more each than the median wage would be bad enough in a company, but in a government agency meant to protect vulnerable children, it's obscene." RNZ has sought a response from Oranga Tamariki.
RNZ News
11-07-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Oranga Tamariki paying nearly $2m a year to communications staff
The agency was paying everyone in the communications department over $100,000 a year. Photo: RNZ Documents show Oranga Tamariki pays nearly $2m to its 14 communications staff - after cutting five staff and half a million dollars in the past year while other staff are banned from speaking to media without authorisation. The revelations came from an Official Information Act (OIA) response to questions raised by the Taxpayers Union lobby group. In it, the children's ministry confirmed that as of 31 March it employed two media advisers, two communications advisers, two senior media advisers, six senior communications advisers, a chief media adviser and a manager of organisational communications. The total salary budget for the team was $1.97m. "All staff in the roles listed above currently earn over $100,000 per year," the ministry said in its response. A report from a select committee review shows this was down from 19 staff at a cost of $2.72m as of 30 June the previous year, though show staff numbers and costs have fluctuated over the past five financial years. Cost figures have been rounded. The OIA response also provided details about Oranga Tamariki's code of conduct relating to engagement with the media, which included a directive that no information was to be provided without explicit authorisation. It cited privacy and confidential information as a reason, saying that given the nature of Oranga Tamariki's work, "we have access to confidential, sensitive and personal information. It is expected that all our people will show integrity and follow the law, our policies and systems regarding collecting, storing, accessing and sharing of Oranga Tamariki information". "We do not speak, or provide information, to the media regarding any work-related activity, event or query, unless explicitly authorised," the code states. "It is important that we continue to hold this duty of confidentiality of information even after we leave Oranga Tamariki." Staff are encouraged to speak up about any serious wrongdoing they became aware of "using appropriate avenues", pointing to the protected disclosures whistleblowing regime as one option. In a statement, the Taxpayers' Union said the ministry was "drowning in PR while kids fall through the cracks". "A bloated comms team paid at least 30 percent more each than the median wage would be bad enough in a company, but in a government agency meant to protect vulnerable children, it's obscene." RNZ has sought a response from Oranga Tamariki. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
08-07-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Christchurch Mayor backs proposal for government-capped rates rises
Phil Mauger envisages a rates cap of around 5 percent. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger is backing calls for the government to cap rates rises . Cabinet will consider options to control rate rises, including capping, later this year. Finance Minister Nicola Willis has complained of councils' wasteful spending, comparing local politicians to kids in a candy store. "Councils don't always do a great job of spending your money like you would spend it. There are wasteful projects - there is evidence of that," Willis told Morning Report on Monday. "We want councils focusing on the things people expect them to do, which is the rubbish, the roads, the pipes, the basics - and not all the fanciful projects." Mauger told RNZ he could not agree more. "Everyone campaigns 'ohh, we gotta stick to basics', right? And then the first thing some of us do is go away and not stick to basics," he said. "We need to be stronger around the council table to say what's basics. Now ... someone's basic might be someone else's must have ... but it's good to have rates caps. I feel it's good. I really do." Earlier this year, the Taxpayers' Union launched a campaign calling for rates to be capped at inflation levels. Mauger imagined a cap closer to 5 percent and said his council was "very close to what I'd call the rates cap". He conceded it would not be possible to cap rates at inflation. "If it's low as that we would struggle with that," Mauger said. "I think to get down to 2 percent, if the government put a rates cap at 2 percent on it, I think there's a lot of problems." Christchurch City Council had approved average rates increases of 6.4 percent, 9.9 percent and 6.6 percent this term, as a result average rates bills had climbed almost 25 percent in the city this triennium, while inflation had only risen about 8 percent during that time. Willis told Morning Report she expected push back from councils "because when you take candy away from kids in a candy store, they don't really like it. But at the same time, we are on the side of ratepayers". Asked if he was acting like a kid in a candy store, Mauger told RNZ: "No - when it's my own money, it is. But when you're spending other people's money, [rates caps] are good". "If we had money running out of our ears, you'd spend it on other stuff. We haven't got that at the moment," he said. He agreed with Willis that councils had engaged in wasteful spending, and when asked for an example he pointed to cycleway spending. "We've wasted money on how we have designed and built cycleways. Now I'm not against cycleways but we can build them one hell of a lot cheaper - a lot, lot cheaper," Mauger said. The council had budgeted $210.4 million for new cycleways, improvements, and cycleway and footpath renewals over the next decade in its long-term plan. However, that only accounted for 3.2 percent of its budgeted $6.5 billion in capital spending. With major projects, such as Christchurch's new stadium and new sports complex, almost complete, rates pressure would ease in the future. But Mauger said the council still needed to find other ways to cut its cloth. "What we've got to look at is our levels of service now," he said. "Everyone expects when they walk out the door, they expect the footpath to be half-good, they expect the gutter to be falling the right way, they expect the water to be not leaking out of the ground, the grass mowed and rubbish picked up - that's what they expect. "If we backed off and didn't mow the grass as often or didn't pick up the rubbish as often, that's how we could save some money. I can't say that's how you would, but that's how we can do it quicker and easier." Rates caps had been panned by Labour leader Chris Hipkins - who said it would make the problem worse not better - and Local Government New Zealand president and Selwyn District mayor Sam Broughton - who said capping rates could be "disastrous for communities". Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
