Focus councils on being councils, farmers say

With local government spending increasing 119 percent in less than ten years, Federated Farmers has used its submission on the Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill, to call for local government to be refocused on local government.

“Since local government was given four “well-beings” in 2002, the sector has surged spending by 119 percent, increased the rates take by 95 percent and quadrupled its debt,” says Katie Milne, Federated Farmers local government spokesperson.

“The four “well-beings” introduced in 2002 have encouraged councils to become involved in activities far removed from their “core business”.

“The Listener’s Jane Clifton said it best, “Instead of focusing primarily on roading, rubbish, sports grounds and the like, councils became carried away with the excitement of also being business development agencies, party-throwers and all manner of things in which they had little expertise”.

“The four well-beings have made it harder for councils to say ‘no’ to demands for increased spending.  It is far too easy for interest groups to advocate for new and expanded council activities and facilities, when they bear little of the cost.

“We heard other submitters making claims about the changes being the ‘end of the world’ for local government.  We don’t agree.  The proposed changes are more about making councils think harder about their spending and making community expectations more realistic.

“Frankly, the entire economy is being compromised by run-away government spending, both local and central.

“Given Federated Farmers policy staff have submitted on local and regional plans in 68 out of New Zealand’s 78 councils, we know local government spending, rates and debt are all forecast to grow over the coming decade.

“A handful of councils are making tough calls and scaling back.   That isn’t the case overall because local government spending will increase by 49 percent, rates by 57 percent and debt by 95 percent.

“Rates will become a serious affordability issue for all New Zealanders.

“It is why Federated Farmers supports proposed changes to focus the purpose of councils, as well as introducing financial prudence requirements.

“There is need to improve council governance and to give central government earlier opportunities to intervene when things start to go off the rails.  I think Kaipara District is pretty much ‘exhibit A’ in that regard.

“From Federated Farmers perspective, the missing key element of reform is local government funding. It really is the hinge on the door.  We need a way of taking the way we fund local government into the 21st Century and out of the Victorian era.

“We also explained that Federated Farmers is in a small minority of submitters who generally don’t ask councils to spend more.  We want to help councils turn the tide of spending demands and the Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill will be a huge help,” Mrs Milne concluded.

For a copy of Federated Farmers submission, please click here.