Hastings Mayor’s extraordinary admission undermines entire Annual Plan consultation

The Taxpayers’ Union says Hastings Mayor Wendy Schollum’s admission in front of a packed ratepayer meeting that she was given a “heads up” about the impact of QV changes on rates — while the Council kept the information from the public until just two days before submissions closed — is extraordinary.

“Last night, tensions ran high, and rightly so,” said Jordan Williams, Taxpayers’ Union Executive Director.

“We have never seen such a material piece of information for an Annual Plan hidden from the public. If legally challenged, the Council would almost certainly be forced to reconsult. The cost of that alone could be hundreds of thousands of dollars — all because officials and the Mayor failed to disclose information ratepayers had every right to know.”

“At the very time businesses are closing in Hastings, commercial ratepayers are being hit with rates hikes of up to 85 percent. Now we know the Mayor had been warned about the shift in advance, but ratepayers were kept in the dark.”

The issue stems from property revaluations used to calculate rates. Because commercial property values have increased more than residential values on paper, the share of the rates burden falling on commercial and industrial ratepayers has surged.

Hastings District Council already has the highest commercial differential of any comparable council in New Zealand, meaning a commercial property pays three times more than an otherwise identical residential property simply because of its use.

Just two days before submissions on the Draft Annual Plan closed, it became clear that CBD rates would rise by 27 percent and other commercial rates by 34 percent, with some businesses facing much higher increases.

“Not only did the Mayor and council bosses know Hastings businesses were about to be absolutely smashed, they chose to keep it secret,” said Williams.

“At the meeting, the Council’s deputy CEO initially claimed he had kept the information from elected officials — but then the Mayor admitted she had been told. They cannot even get their story straight on the cover-up.”

“If the Council wants to avoid expensive litigation, it probably has no choice but to reopen consultation.”