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Rodney rates rort
The promise Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown gave to ratepayers was an average residential rates increase of 7.9 per cent for the 2026/2027 financial year.
The council decision on June 30 shows an increase in the rate in the dollar for both urban and rural residential of 9.15per cent.
The Uniform Annual General Charge (UAGC) increase from $604 to $663 is 9.77 per cent.
Now AC and Brown might argue that targeted rates have gone down (on average) so the average total cost increase for a residential ratepayer is still 7.9per cent, but even if true, that is weasel wording and deliberately misleading.
Targeted rates are just that – targeted. They can go up or down. You get what you pay for and that should be looked at outside of what general rates and the UAGC are intended to cover. They are not intended to be used to cover any shortfall in income from targeted rates!
Since 2022/2023 (i.e. in just four years) the residential rate in the dollar across Auckland has increased by 52 per cent – and that’s on top of the impact of any property revaluation you have had.
The total residential rates increase this year (including targeted rates) for a Rodney ratepayer is 8.6 per cent which is still more than 7.9 per cent.
And AC ignored the plea from Rodney that we should not be paying for the extra costs of the gold-plated CRL that we get no benefit from at all! On Wayne Brown’s logic that the 7.9 per cent was needed only for extra CRL cost increases, Rodney’s increase this year should have been 0.0 per cent.
Once again rural Rodney is being made to pay for urban Auckland’s enjoyment.
The pain we feel is not just from the increases, it’s also from not knowing where our money is going, what we (Rodney) are getting for it, and why it costs so much! Even our councillor can’t get these answers.
What we need is a proper management information system in council that informs voters – not just one that lets staff see what projects they have chosen to spend our money on and how to charge rates without full transparency! With modern AI that’s now a real option and we must push for it!
Bill Foster, Chair Northern Action Group Inc.
Information public right
In your June 22 issue, Councillor Greg Sayers expressed his frustration at being unable to obtain information from Auckland Council officials about how rates collected in Rodney are being spent. Despite making numerous inquiries, he was repeatedly told that providing the information was “too difficult.”
Cr Sayers rightly challenged this explanation. It is difficult to imagine the public reaction if government officials refused to provide information requested by a Cabinet minister. Elected representatives should be able to access the information they need to represent the people who elected them.
Seventy years ago, when I was growing up, local democracy worked rather differently. Councillors set policy and made decisions on behalf of their communities, while officials and other public servants were employed to implement those decisions. Where the application of a rule created an unintended or unfair outcome, experienced officials exercised practical judgement to resolve the issue. They were respected because they served both the council and the public.
Over the past 50 years, however, local government has gradually evolved into a more bureaucratic system. While central government has largely retained its democratic processes, local government has changed significantly.
Increasingly, employed officials have assumed a much greater role in developing policy and drafting the rules that govern our communities.
When Parliament considers new legislation, it is debated openly, and the public has the opportunity to make submissions through the select committee process. By contrast, many Auckland Council policies and bylaws are developed largely by officials behind closed doors. In my view, this is not consistent with the spirit of democratic accountability.
This gradual shift has transferred significant influence from elected representatives to employed officials/bureaucrats. Because councils hold a monopoly over many essential public services, the authority exercised by officials is considerable. That is why I believe Cr Sayers encountered such difficulty in obtaining information that is essential for him to represent the interests of Rodney ratepayers effectively.
Gordon Levet, Wellsford
Pack up your singing
I have lived in the Falls Area for two years now. Can anyone throw any light on where the men’s choral singing comes from all hours of the night till 7am. World War ll songs for example. Pack up your troubles, Daisy daisy, anthems, and night before last, four half times of Once in Royal David’s City. All very nostalgic but sleep depriving. Please do it in perhaps 7am-7pm. Thanks.
Jaqueline Gumbley, Warkworth
