Merging councils is one way to cut rates rises

Council mergers have been touted as a means of combating soaring interest rates.

The national average interest rate has risen by 16% this year. Obviously, such a large-scale increase cannot be absorbed by residents in the long run.

Porirua Mayor Anita Baker said no one was immune from the significant increase in council fees.

“I know as a ratepayer in Porirua, in five years I won’t be able to live there,” said Mr Baker, whose electorate recently raised rates by 17.5 per cent.

It is a message that local councils are required to deliver core services more efficiently and effectively The Prime Minister bluntly demanded At a local government meeting last week.

A possible solution is The rise of integration across the country – Merge two or more regions into one.

since The future of local government scrutiny Major reforms to the sector are proposed for June 2023.

Double-digit property tax increases approved recently across the country have further fueled the discussion as people consider efficiencies of scale and spreading the burden across more taxpayers.

The Wellington region lost its bid for the super city scheme in 2015, but the topic has resurfaced with three Wairarapa councils, as well as two in Wellington, Porirua and the Hutt Valley.

Baker supports merging the region’s four city councils.

The district is tightly integrated, she said, but there are too many inconsistencies in rules, services and fees.

“We shouldn’t have different rules; we’re 15 minutes away from each other,” Baker said. “So why don’t we enforce the same rules across the entire region?”

She believes the merger will create efficiencies, such as having just one layer of management rather than multiple layers across different councils, and will unify and strengthen advocacy in the region.

“Let’s do this.”

South Island is also discussing this issue

The issue of racial integration is also emerging across the South Island, with discussions taking place on the West Coast, South Canterbury and Southland.

A vote to merge Nelson City and Tasman District failed in 2012, but the topic has resurfaced in a region where the boundary between the two districts is looking increasingly artificial.

Nelson Mayor Nick Smith has previously said he was in favour of exploring the possibility of a merger.

“The communities and economies of Nelson and Tasman are so integrated that it makes sense for us to explore creating a single city council.”

But Tasman City Mayor Tim King has concerns about rural voices in the merged Nelson-Tasman City.

He believes that after the merger, the area will be “dominated” by the Richmond-Nelson urban area, with a total population of about 115,000 people in the area and a population of more than 70,000 in the urban area.

“Rural representation will decline. That’s inevitable in a population-driven process,” King said.

He would rather work on finding efficiencies by sharing services with Nielsen.

The two councils are currently working together on transport, sewage, landfill, future development, pest management, emergency management, Saxton Fields Sports Centre and more.

“There are a lot of other things we can continue to do that we can offer in a joint or collective way. If there’s a benefit in financial terms, that’s a benefit we can reap.”

Mr King said the coalition government’s Local Water Turnaround policy, which sees regions band together to create council-controlled water service delivery bodies, was another opportunity to improve efficiency while retaining local voice.

Sarah Baddeley, a strategic adviser at Martin Jenkins with expertise in local government, believes that local councils must make structural changes in the face of a range of challenges facing the sector.

“Taking no action is not an option,” she told hundreds of council representatives at the Local Government New Zealand conference on Friday.

She said mergers were not the only way to improve efficiency and shared services must also be explored – not just between local councils but also between tribes, trusts, community partners and government.

“One size may not fit all.”

Baddeley urged parliament not to “delay the problem” but to start discussing solutions immediately.

“The community can’t afford it, and as a country … we can’t afford it,” she said.

“Your community expects and deserves better.”

Local Democracy Report is a local agency news service funded jointly by Radio New Zealand (RNZ) and NZ On Air.