New Taxpayers’ Union analysis shows the average household could save around $391 a year under the Government’s rates cap, more than eleven times the $34 claimed by Local Government New Zealand.

Taxpayers’ Union Head of Policy James Ross said:

“LGNZ told ratepayers a rates cap would save them just $34 a year. We’ve run the numbers ourselves and, based on average rates increases over the last decade, the saving would be closer to $391 a year.

“Rates have risen by an average 6.5 percent a year over the past decade. If that continued, a four-percent cap would save the average household $2,736 over seven years.

“Even the Government’s much more conservative modelling puts the average saving at $134 a year. However you cut it, LGNZ’s $34 figure is bogus.

“We’ve published our workings for everyone to see. If LGNZ still stands by its $34 claim, it should stop hiding its numbers and show us how it got there.”

The Taxpayers’ Union is backing a proposal by Christchurch City councillors to freeze the pay of chief executives and directors at council-owned companies, saying it is a positive step that should now be extended more broadly across the council.

Taxpayers' Union spokesperson Tory Relf said:

“This is a constructive start, and we commend councillors willing to show restraint at the top. The Council’s chief executive has already acknowledged the pressure on ratepayers by taking a pay cut herself, and that example of frugality should now be reflected more widely across the organisation.”

“Christchurch City Council still employs more than 1,000 staff earning over $100,000 a year, including 45 paid more than a backbench Member of Parliament. As households brace for another significant rates increase, it’s fair to question whether this level of senior pay is sustainable.”

“Ratepayers are being asked to tighten their belts. It’s only reasonable that the same discipline shown by the chief executive is applied throughout senior management.”

“This isn’t about targeting individuals, it’s about priorities. With rates continuing to rise, the Council must show it is managing costs responsibly and living within its means.”

The Local Government (System Improvements) Amendment Bill aims to fix a number of core disfunctions in the local government sector, including:

- Poor prioritisation of spending

- Elected Members' information access rights

- Weaponisation of code of conduct processes

However, it is so far failing to deliver in each of these areas. Read our submission on how to fix the Bill below.

Hi,

Bumper newsletter today. It's poll time (and this month's Taxpayers' Union-Curia Poll is more dramatic than usual...).

And the local government file is running red hot. Today's we're publishing our latest local government briefing paper: Building Better Councils.

Let's get into it.

💥 Building Better Councils: Ten ways to tackle unaccountable 'Big Council' 💥

Despite everything going on with LGNZ and rates capping – our local government guru, Sam Warren, has had his head down this week and has published a new briefing paper: Building Better Councils: Solutions to improve local government.

The paper is a blueprint to rein in excess, refocus priorities, and restore trust in local town halls. The bottom line is that local government is meant to serve ratepayers, not itself. Click here to take a read.

Ratepayers are funding bloated bureaucracies while getting potholes and platitudes in return.

So let's fix it! And here's our top ten suggestions on how to rein in council waste and restore accountability. From capping rate hikes to inflation, mandating financial transparency through standardised reporting, and refocusing councils on core services. 

We’re pushing for real benchmarking, radical transparency, and shared services to cut costs – not just cut ribbons. You can read the paper here.

Rates capping continues to gain political traction 👏

Heather du Plessis-Allan is filling in for Mike Hosking on Newstalk ZB's breakfast show. On Monday she covered our campaign and the LGNZ's secret plan to mount a ratepayer funded nationwide political campaign against rates capping.

We've also had councillors from across the country reach out to us, shocked and outraged that LGNZ would go this far. They had no idea this underhanded campaign was being hatched in their name. The pressure is building.

If you've not already, please take a moment to drop a line to your local mayor and councillors. Tell them not to support Local Government NZ's proposal to use ratepayer money to fight rates capping.

Nicola Willis comes good 👍

Even Finance Minister Nicola Willis has come out in favour of rates capping.

Now, we give Willis a bit of stick for her higher borrowing and spending even more than the last lot.

But local government rates are a major driver of inflation – which saw the Reserve Bank pause its OCR/interest rate cutting program yesterday.

So, credit where credit is due – this is a move we can get behind. Some of Nicola Willis' talking points sounded awfully familiar... (we’re flattered! 😉).

Go Nicola!

And so has Phil Mauger 🥰

Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger has also come out backing caps on rate hikes, and we reckon he’s on his way to earning his ratepayer hero badge...

Meanwhile, Labour's Chris Hipkins isn't reading the room. Hipkins has come out in favour of "Big Council". Labour Party-dominated LGNZ have strong armed the Labour leader into siding with the bureaucrats over the ratepayers – yet again.

In the next few days, we'll be releasing new analysis showing that on average, council rates are now 44 percent higher than just three years ago. But Chris Hipkins thinks councils need more flexibility? Spare us.

The tide’s turning. Ratepayer rights are on the rise – and the old guard is looking increasingly out of touch.

Desperately clinging to false claims 🤣

Labour and the Greens are clinging to a weird talking point that 'if only' Nanaia Mahuta's Three Waters had stayed in place rates would be affordable. 

They must think ratepayers are mugs!

Three Waters meant co-governance, more bureaucracy, and no local control. A recipe for efficiency and lower rates? Yeah, right!

SHOCK POLL: National back on top... NZ First leapfrog ACT and the Greens 😮 📊

For the first time in a Taxpayers' Union-Curia Poll, New Zealand First is now the third largest party - leapfrogging both ACT and the Green. 

In fact, this is the first major poll to show NZ First as the third largest party since 2017!

This month's poll is also good news for Christopher Luxon, with the centre-right firmly ahead across the three coalition partners.

National is up 0.4 points to 33.9 percent in this month's poll, while Labour is down 3.2 points to 31.6 percent. New Zealand First is up 3.7 points to 9.8 percent, while the Greens are up too - by 1.2 points to 9.4 percent. ACT are unchanged on 9.1 percent, while Te Pāti Māori is up 0.2 points to 3.5 percent.

Based on this poll and compared to last month, it means that National remains on 42 seats, while Labour drops 5 to 39 seats. NZ First gain 4 to reach 12 seats, while the Greens gain 2 to 10 seats, and ACT drops 1 to 11 seats. Te Pāti Māori remains on 6 seats.

On preferred PM, Christopher Luxon is down from last month to 19.7 percent (-0.6 points), while Chris Hipkins is up 1.1 points to 19.6 percent.

Winston Peters is at 9.3 percent (+1.3 points), Chlöe Swarbrick is at 7.0 percent (+1.4 points), and David Seymour is at 5.7 percent (-0.3 points).

You can read more of the poll details over on our website, or get the full polling report (for the sort of data and insights the political parties rely on with their own internal pollsters) by joining our 'Taxpayer Caucus'.

The Reserve Bank: Where the only thing rising faster than inflation is the perks 🧖‍♀️⛱️

New figures reveal Reserve Bank staff are enjoying more than just flexible monetary policy: they’re flexing a pretty generous perks package too.

While Kiwi households are being squeezed by rising costs and high interest rates, RBNZ staff are living it up like they’re at a wellness retreat.

Some RBNZ staff are out of the office nearly 100 days a year -  and taxpayers are footing the bill.

Here's what that looks like: five weeks’ annual leave, 15 days of “wellness” leave, and the ability to buy even more time off. Add in work-from-home privileges (70 percent of staff work from home at least one day a week), and you’ve got a part-time central bank on full-time pay.

Over the past year alone, the Bank spent $535,000 on “wellness perks” like gym memberships, $58,000 on home office subsidies, and nearly $20,000 on morning teas.

Is it any wonder staff numbers have ballooned 2.5x since 2018? When they’re barely in the office, racking up perks and time off, who wouldn’t want to join the gravy train?

The Reserve Bank’s job is to keep inflation down - not morale up with muffins and meditation.

Waste literally at the Council's doorstep: Whangārei spends $1.6 million paving roads their courtyard 💰

Whangārei District Council certainly need to read Sam's briefing paper. Your humble Taxpayers' Union has uncovered that this rural council spent $1.6 million on paving a courtyard outside the Council's offices.

Sometimes DIY projects take a little longer, and cost a little more than intended. But the cost of a bit of paving outside the council is surely DIY gone wrong.

And what paid for that platinum pavement? Whangārei residents' 10.17 percent rates hike just this year alone.

Members-only Webinar: Budget 2025 and understanding Treasury's economic and fiscal updates 🤓

Let's not beat around the bush. Government finances – and the Treasury projections – are much worse than the media would have you believe. The “cuts” merely slowed, slightly, the increases in spending (and debt) because much of the savings were reallocated to increased spending elsewhere.  

Following on from the hundreds of budget and Government debt-related questions we receive from supporters, we are holding a webinar for members where our in-house economist Ray Deacon will dig into the details and explain how it all works.

Ray will cut through the usual spin and illustrate how governments conjure up a fiscal surplus in any particular year and what to look for to establish the credibility of any (forecast) surplus. 

So if you are interested in a deeper dive than the media usually provides into how government accounting/ the Public Finance Act works, come along (virtually) tonight at 7pm. You can RSVP here (we'll send you the link before 7pm).

Please note, this is a members-only event. Joining the Taxpayers' Union can be done online for $25

Hopefully, see you tonight.

Tory Relf New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union

ps. As alluded to above, later this week we'll be launching the official 2025 Rates Dashboard. Keep an eye on the media and our website for details.

 

The Dunedin Mayor’s pitch to local councils in his campaign to be elected the new president of Local Government New Zealand is nuts.
 
Despite the vast majority of ratepayers considering the move silly, Dave Cull wants to use ratepayers’ money to lobby the government to force cat owners to register their cats.  

The proposal would also see annual cat fees, cat curfews and even cat rangers to patrol the streets looking for cats off their designated property, or breaching curfew hours (yes really!).

This is the ultimate in the local government trying to find expensive solutions to a problem that doesn’t exist.

Earlier in the month, LGNZ released its latest performance survey showing record low levels of confidence in the decision making of local government.  With the so-called ‘leaders’ of the sector too busy talking about cat rangers to focus on New Zealand’s enormous infrastructure deficit, no wonder local government is in crisis.

To sign the petition to stop this ridiculous policy click here.