To many of us, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly brings back fond memories of a classic Spaghetti Western film. But in many ways it also epitomises the reaction to the documents presented to Ratepayers, by Porirua City Council (PCC), through the public consultation over proposed changes to the rating policy for the Long Term Plan.
The Good: the changes proposed to reduce commercial rates to comparable levels with neighbouring authorities. This can only be good for both economic development and the attraction of jobs into our region. A really positive move, albeit at a considerable cost to those CBD Ratepayers who face targeted increases, which may not sustainable.
The Bad: represented by the outrageously high increases proposed for rural rates and the additional and economically unsustainable increases for the CBD Ratepayers, neither of which are sustainable.
The Ugly:epitomised by the lack of user-friendly documentation in the consultation process (how many Ratepayers will plough through more than 100 pages of repetitive bureaucratic gobbledegook) with, yet again, expectations that Ratepayers will just pay more money to meet spending objectives. Of course, there was no sign of an effort to release efficiency gains from within the PCC bureaucracy to ease financial pressures!
Councillors received public submissions and appeared shocked by the responses. Common themes emerged challenging fundamental principles such as fairness, equity and, most worryingly, legality. One long-serving Councillor observed that he had never seen public reactions as strong, consistent or as well thought through as those just received.
It seems that our Council is concerned. They have deferred the meeting from early December at which Officers had previously advised that the changes would be adopted. In other words, public consultation is just a process encumbrance that has to be “ticked off” before policies can progress! No doubt Mayor Tana and his colleagues are having to seriously consider whether the changes proposed can be sustained. More importantly, they will have had virtually no advice from Officers on practical alternative courses of action. This was why in previous articles we have called for alternative sources of advice for our Councillors.
Perhaps we are at a watershed moment:
- it seems that the Mayor and Councillors care and that they may be listening to their stakeholders (the Ratepayers);
- the proposed changes to the rates are unsustainable and cannot proceed;
- a Legal Challenge is in nobody’s best interests, least of all Ratepayers;
- the Coalition Government is increasing the spotlight on Local Government effectiveness which could lead to changes that benefit all; and
- the law specifies prudent financial management, including a balanced budget and an efficiently and effectively run bureaucracy.
The big question is whether Councillors are bold and brave enough to take the steps that both the law and public opinion demand? It is beholden on us as Ratepayers to help in that process. We must let Councillors know which core services are important to us and what can be deferred as we realise a balanced budget underpinned by fair and regionally competitive rates. Clearly if funding is tight, then the “nice to have” projects will also have to be deferred. We also demand that the bureaucracy realise the many efficiency gains already identified and stop treating Ratepayers as an open source for uncontrolled spending.
The big question is, will Councillors respond effectively to light at the end of the tunnel?
Andrew Weeks
On behalf of the Porirua Economic Development Group (PEDG)