Hamilton rate hikes set to ‘crush’ whānau, MP warns

Friday, 9 February 2024

Hamilton City Council’s proposed rate hikes will “crush a lot of whānau” and placing the blame on water costs is a “red herring”, according to Hamilton West MP Tama Potaka.

The Waikato Times spoke to various politicians in the wake of revealing that the proposed 25.5% rate rise could be followed by yearly increases of 14.1% - a proposal were mooted at a council meeting on Wednesday.

Hamilton Mayor Paula Southgate said the hikes would be “the worst news for ratepayers in the last two decades”, and in a press release on Thursday cited the return of water services costs - in the wake of the Three Waters axing - for the hikes.

However, Potaka said the blame for the hikes may lie closer to home.

“When you spend more than you earn it makes it really hard,” he said.

“It’s really important to get a grasp of financials.”

Potaka said council faced a $75m deficit, and said placing the blame solely on water infrastructure costs was “a little distracting, especially when you see some of the other projects council is spending money on”.

“A little bit short-sighted and a red herring,” he said.

Potaka said he was aware of both renters and mortgage payers in his constituency who were struggling already, and said the further rate hikes was “going to crush a lot of whānau… make it really hard for them”.

The Taxpayers’ Union also joined the chorus against Hamilton’s proposed rate hikes, claiming the council spent $315m on consultants and contractors - and pays almost a quarter of staff more than $100,000.

“There is still plenty of fat the council could trim to allow investment in vital infrastructure while protecting ratepayers from eye-watering rate hikes,” said Taxpayers’ Union head of campaigns Callum Purves.

The Minister for Local Government, Simeon Brown, also threw the ball back into council’s court.

“Hamilton City Council was strongly opposed to Labour’s three water reforms, and I share the same view,” he said.

“That’s why I’m focused on repealing Labour’s three water reforms and restoring community ownership of local water assets.”

However, he signalled a lifeline may be on offer as he said Government was “working at pace to implement our policy, Local Water Done Well, which will ensure councils are able to set up financially sustainable models for delivering three waters services that work for them.”

He also said he had discussed the issue with Southgate and “I appreciate and understand her concerns.

“We’ll have more to say about the implementation of Local Water Done Well in the coming weeks.”

Hamilton East National MP Ryan Hamilton said end of Three Waters proposals was “always on the cards”.

“The National Party was very clear they didn’t support Three Waters as it stood,” he said.

He said councils and central government needed to work together on the issue, noting water services have “some pretty incredible price tags for infrastructure”.

“The challenge is how we structure those bills”.

Labour’s spokesperson for infrastructure, Barbara Edmonds MP, told the Waikato Times the cost of fixing broken water infrastructure in New Zealand is estimated at $185bn over the next 30 years.

“It’s why we proposed the affordable water reforms – which could’ve seen households saving up to $5400 on average per year, by 2054,” she said.

“This is an issue that councils and mayors have and continue to be vocal about – yet to date, the National Government remain empty-handed.”

The Waikato Times put additional questions to Southgate but a promised response failed to arrive before the deadline.