1 April 2022. Over the month of March Auckland Council has been collecting public feedback on its proposed 3.5% rates increase, increases to its fees and charges, and the introduction of a climate action targeted rate.
While the average general rates rise is proposed to be 3.5 percent, the new Climate Action Targeted Rate of 2.4 percent will increase the average annual bill by nearly 6 percent.
Auckland Council’s latest property valuations were also released last month showing a 34 percent increase in the region’s average house value.
The latest figures reflect the estimated price a property would have sold for on June 1 last year compared to the last council valuation in 2017.
Valuations were meant to take place in 2020, but were delayed because of COVID.
Rodney recorded an average increase of 37 percent, which is above the 34 percent average, indicating the average rates increase for Rodney households will be higher than many other areas of Auckland.
The proposed new climate change tax will raise another $574 million over the next 10 years from ratepayerโs pockets. Auckland Council already has a current budget of $152 million dedicated for climate change mitigation. The $574 million is primarily intended to be spent on electrifying ferries and city buses, building more cycleways in the CBD, and planting trees in South Auckland.
Whether you believe the effect of wetter winters and dryer summers are the result of manmade pollution or part of a notarial global cycle l๐จ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ง๐๐๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐๐๐ญ ๐ฌ๐๐ ๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ๐, ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ญ๐๐๐ญ ๐๐ฎ๐ฆ๐๐ฎ ๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ง๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐๐ข๐ง๐ , ๐๐๐ญ๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ญ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐จ๐ ๐ซ๐ข๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐๐๐ง๐ค๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง, ๐ฎ๐ฉ๐ ๐ซ๐๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฉ๐๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐๐๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ข๐ง๐๐ซ๐๐๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ฌ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฐ๐๐๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ ๐๐ฏ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ, ๐ฌ๐ญ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฏ๐๐ฅ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฎ๐ง๐ฌ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ ๐ซ๐จ๐๐๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐๐ฌ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐จ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ก๐๐ซ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฌ, ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐๐๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ก ๐ฐ๐๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐๐ก๐จ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ ๐ซ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ฉ๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐๐ง๐ค ๐ฐ๐๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก๐ญ๐ฌ, ๐๐ฎ๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐๐ง๐๐๐ ๐ฉ๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ข๐ฅ ๐ง๐๐ญ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค๐ฌ ๐๐ฌ ๐๐ฅ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ง๐๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ง๐ , ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐๐ง๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐ข๐ฑ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฅ๐จ๐๐๐ฅ ๐ซ๐จ๐๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ ๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ก๐ข๐๐ก ๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ง๐๐ซ๐๐๐ฌ๐๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐๐จ๐ง ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ข๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐ข๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐๐ฌ.
If the new tax is approved, spending of the climate action tax on ๐ฅ๐จ๐๐๐ฅ ๐ง๐๐๐๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฆ๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐๐ง๐ญ. I will continue to fight for our fair share to fully and properly address the effects of climate change locally. However, all of these “fixes”, I believe, should be being paid for from the General rates as part of the Council’s normal daily business.
The other proposed increases in Council fees and charges highlights the increasing level of dissatisfaction from ratepayers regarding Auckland Councilโs planning processes.
Primary concerns are the time it takes to get a resource consent and the cost in Council fees. These come from across the board, whether people are adding a veranda, building a simple shed or planning multi-million dollar developments.
Question. Has it now reached a point where an independent commissioner should be appointed to fix Auckland Councilโs internal processes?
Such an extreme intervention would have to be initiated by the Government.
This isnโt just a Rodney problem, but is happening across the whole of Auckland. Many people state that Aucklandโs processes are too pedantic compared to that of other councils.
Compounding the problem is experienced staff are leaving for lucrative government salaries with Kainga Ora (Housing New Zealand), but the internal council processes have not adapted to cope. Inexperienced staff are left under enormous pressure.
At the same time, resource applications are skyrocketing due to housing demand. Also Government legislative changes, which require a response from Council staff, are further draining the already diminished staff resources.