Victory for Hamilton ratepayers as Mayor’s name-change bid collapses

15 MARCH 2018

The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union this morning delivered a petition to Hamilton City Council and Mayor Andrew King urging against wasting ratepayer money on a non-essential name change.

The petition statement reads: I oppose the use of ratepayer resources on a proposal to change the name of Hamilton City Council, and call on the Council to find measures to save, not waste, ratepayer money.

Taxpayers’ Union Spokesperson Louis Houlbrooke, who joined the Union's mascot 'Porky the Waste Hater', in presenting the petition to Councillors at today's meeting says, “In just 36 hours, we obtained more than 1,500 signatures. Hamilton ratepayers could not have been clearer: they do not want the Mayor to focus on such expensive irrelevancies when their rates are being hiked by 9.5% a year.”

“Shortly after we delivered our petition, the proposal was withdrawn by the Mayor. We understand that not a single Councillor was willing to support the Mayor's proposal. This was no surprise after ratepayers made it so clear just how unpopular this vanity project would be.”

“We’re now urging Mayors across the country to take this as a lesson – don’t waste money on ‘nice-to-haves’ when rates are out of control. Ratepayers won’t put up with it," says Mr Houlbrooke.

ENDS

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