MEDIA RELEASE

Thursday 28 June 2007

Rates reduction a victory for Waikato ratepayers

Waikato ratepayers can claim an outstanding victory for common sense in halving the council’s planned rates increase, says councillor Ian Balme.

Environment Waikato today signed off its annual plan, committing to a 9.8 per cent rates increase. The council initially proposed a whopping 19.8 per cent average increase across the region.

“When I exposed the council’s proposed massive rates increase, I asked Waikato people to step forward and make their views clear to the council,” Ian Balme said. “They have done that very loudly, and I want to thank those people for their efforts. Together we have shown that a single councillor and strong community lobbying can successfully stop the juggernaut.”

This demonstrates how important voters’ decision in October will be, Ian said. “It should give people confidence that they can have a significant impact on the behaviour of local government.”

During today’s debate, Ian voted for the adoption of the plan, recognising the amount of work staff had put into it. Equally as important was the acknowledgement of work carried out in the region by field staff.

“In the space of six weeks, they have managed to slash about $5 million from their budgets. They’ve done this without councillors interfering in these operational matters. If we’d given them another few weeks, maybe they could have reduced it even further.”

“I said at the start of this process that I would accept a rates increase equivalent to the rate of inflation plus 3-4 per cent. I was therefore initially reluctant to vote for the adoption of the plan.”

But an assurance by staff that these cuts were sustainable, and not simply to retain some familiar faces around the council table after the coming elections, had given him sufficient confidence, he said.

“The challenge now is to cement in these changes over the next six months. I say that because I lost count of the number of times during our annual plan discussions that I heard the words ‘we’ll review this in the half year plan’. That signals to me that at the moment these cuts are considered temporary and, once the election is over, they will be added back into the budget.”

ends

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