Taxpayers’ Union welcomes release of council performance metrics

The Taxpayers’ Union has today welcomed Minister Simon Watt’s release of local government performance metrics, enabling greater transparency for council performance.

Taxpayers' Union Local Government Campaigns Manager, Sam Warren, said:

“The release of these metrics has been widely anticipated. More transparency is essential in reining in council decision making.”

“The difficulty for ratepayers to get the full picture on how councils behave has always been a challenge, and many councils have enjoyed hiding behind layers of bureaucracy to prevent better scrutiny from ratepayers.”

“Without better scrutiny, councils have run roughshod particularly in recent years, spending money wastefully, and hiking rates excessively. For too long they’ve pushed their luck, which is why we’re seeing these performance metrics, as well as policies like rates capping on the agenda.”

“While there work to be done and no shortage of areas to reform, today’s release is a step forward in holding councils to account.”