Ryan Bridge: Nobody wants to give more money to councils who waste it

If you're in Auckland and waking up this morning feeling poorer, it's because you are. It's because we all are.  

CVs down 9%, rates are up 6% at the start of the month – that's an extra 223 bucks a year. Now the CVs aren't the market value, obviously, but the market value of our houses has also dropped.  

And so it's right that we feel poorer, we are. But spare a thought for Wellington – CVs down 24%, rates up 17%. No, thank you.  

Everyone's asking why are we paying more when our houses are worthless? The answer is just because it's how councils collect money, and they have few options to do it any other way.  

I saw a graph yesterday in defence of councils – this is a tax as a percentage of GDP,  over the last 130 years, since the 1800s. The blue line was central government. They tax us through income, y’know, spending via GST, a whole bunch of stuff was up around 30%, peaked at about 35% of GDP.  

Greedy. Disgraceful. Poor. Old in orange. Your Councils basically flatlining for the last 70 years at 2% of GDP. This is why they want more options to make money, like charging rates on government buildings in their districts. Because yes, the government doesn't pay rates at present. Bit rude, isn't it? We have to.  

It's why Wayne Brown wants other levers to pull, like bed taxes. But here's the problem: they have a good argument for more funding streams, but they keep blowing up their sympathy with dumb, expensive, useless stuff like cycleways, and raised pedestrian crossings, and road calming measures, and food scrap bins we have to pay for. The list goes on.  

The problem councils have is that nobody wants to give more money to somebody who wastes it. For as long as that keeps happening, their sympathy tank is on empty. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
If you're in Auckland and waking up this morning feeling poorer,

(00:03):
it's because you are. It's because we all are. Cvs
down nine percent, rates up six percent at the start
of the month. That's an extra two hundred and twenty
three bucks a year. Now. The cvs aren't the market value, obviously,
but the market value of our houses has also dropped,
and so it's right that we feel poorer. We are.
But SPARETHO for Wellington, cvs down twenty four percent, rates

(00:27):
up seventeen percent. No thank you. Everyone's asking why are
we paying more when our houses are worthless. The answer
is just because it's how councils collect money and they
have few options to do it any other way. I
saw a graph yesterday in defensive councils. This is a
tax as a percentage of GDP since for over the
last one hundred and thirty years, since the eighteen hundreds,

(00:49):
the blue line was Central government. They tax us through income,
you know, spending by a GST a whole bunch of stuff.
It was up around thirty percent, peaked at about thirty
five per center GDP. Greedy, disgraceful, poor old inn Orange.
Your councils basically flatlining for the last seventy years at
two percent of GDP. This is why they want more

(01:12):
options to make money, like charging rates on government buildings
in their districts, because yes, the government doesn't pay rates
at present, but rude, isn't it. We have to. It's
why Wayne Brown wants other leavers to pull like bed taxes.
But here's the problem. They have a good argument for
more funding streams, but they keep blowing up their sympathy

(01:34):
with dumb, expensive, useless stuff like cycle ways and raised
pedestrian crossings and roadcarming measures and food scrap bins we
have to pay for. The list goes on. The problem
councils have is that nobody wants to give more money
to somebody who wastes it. For as long as that
keeps happening, their sympathy tank is on empty. For more

(01:54):
from early edition with Ryan Bridge. Listen live to News
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