“Rate hikes twice the size of Auckland’s are totally unjustified”, says the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union, responding to Napier City Council’s 4.9 percent rates hike, agreed by Councillors yesterday.
“Don’t be fooled by the Council’s spin,” says Jordan Williams, the Union’s Executive Director. “The five percent hike is
five times the amount needed for the costs of the water supply upgrades which councillors are trying to use to justify
their vote.”
“Last year, total expenditure at the council was $86 million. Rather than finding less than one percent of efficiencies
for the $500,000 needed to deliver safer drinking water, the politicians took the easy option. Councillors choose to dig
much deeper into ratepayers’ pockets, rather than look at any of their own existing spending .”
“A dedicated Hawke’s Bay ratepayers’ group to fight for better value for money is something our Hawke's Bay members are
currently looking at. Yesterday’s vote suggests that can’t come soon enough.”
In 2015, the New Zealand Taxpayers' Union supported the founding of the Auckland Ratepayers' Alliance. The Alliance has attracted more than 16,000 members and is the largest policial organisation in Auckland - see www.ratepayers.nz.
ENDS