Back to the inane comments… Hide demonstrating his ability to appeal to the masses with the “keep costs down” message.
Well, like everyone I find the message attractive. My power bill really annoys me. And my groceries. And we’ve all talked about the price of petrol for a year or two now. And every quarter when I pay my rates bill it feels like a large bill, so of course I’d like to make it lower.
But my taxes are a much bigger burden, and I don’t see any of them being offered back as a rebate for local government costs (especially those that have been transferred or imposed – water quality, dog chipping, RMA, etc).
One day soon I’ll have a crack at spelling out why the idea is silly from an infrastructure point of view – just think about the bulk of spending being on roads, and the cost components that go into roadworks… but that is for another day.
Today, all I want to ask is whether Mr Hide is also going to remove the legislative obligation for Councils to act responsibly in the long term interests of their comunity. Because there is a very real chance of a direct conflict between capping a rates increase, and a need for spending on assets for safety/risk mitigation reasons. The very next time something happens…
I know that the response is meant to be about prioritising – cut back to only the essentials. And I agree that the local Government barons and earls are not good at doing that: saying ‘no’ to someone or something is hard, especially when you have to eyeball the people to whom you are saying ‘no’… But I am also saying that, when all is said and done, most things that are provided are a direct response to ratepayer needs and wants. Maybe I don’t want some of the things; but someone somewhere has championed the cause, and that’s usually why they are happening.
Of course it is also easy to make a meal of the Beckham style stuff-ups, but show me a business that doesn’t try things? Personally, I’d rather see people try and fail (as long as they learn from it) and move on.
So, Mr Hide – how about it? Can you promise to cap my power, groceries, petrol, taxes….
