Category: Opinion

Opinion: Ratepayers need a more efficient property rate and valuation system

Posted on by Dave Stewart

Ratepayers and local district councils suffer from an inefficient rates and infrastructure financing system. A paradigm shift in our thinking is required to prevent fixed income homeowners being forced out of their homes and stretching household budgets beyond limits for most of the rest. Several candidates vying for Whakatāne District Council suggest we should not be campaigning for recovery of GST on property rates since politicians have tried before and failed. Others suggest capping rates without alternative funding options, a user-pay approach that has bankrupted councils in the UK and Australia. I would like to share an example of a successful property rate valuation and financing system in California.

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Opinion: What the heck is happening with rates?

Posted on by Dave Stewart

Rates are going through the roof and people are struggling. Even so, I’m going to say something that most mayoral candidates won’t admit. Rates are going to keep going up and anyone who promises that they can stop that happening is lying to you. The Government would sack the council and install commissioners if we did what it would take to stop rates increasing.

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Letter: Who’s to blame for dormant town centre?

Posted on by Dexter

Since the election of the National-led coalition government, 33,000 more people were unemployed, we’re in the deepest recession in 30 years (aside from Covid), record numbers of people are needing government support to get by, free prescriptions have been cut, half-priced public transport has been cut, food bank funding has been cut and all this despite borrowing $15 billion dollars to fund tax cuts that we were told would fix the cost of living crisis. While the Government shovelled billions to big tobacco and mining companies, 2700 businesses went bankrupt in the last year, and to top it off I read that Nicola Willis burned $671 million from the Bank of Taxpayers on no new ferries.

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