Our Rates Are Too High

It is election time for local councils, excluding Tauranga City Council, which is another hangover from the reign of the commissioners.

I have put my hat in the ring for one of the five vacancies on the Tauranga Ward of the Bay Of Plenty Regional Council. There are eighteen candidates nominated. It is a big field, with five eventual winners, and thirteen losers. May the best candidates win.

Looking around New Zealand, every single council seems to suffer from excessive costs, although some councils are worse than others (note to Tauranga City Council – it is not a prize to be at the top of that list). They all suffer from too high management overhead, too much bureaucracy, too much busy work, too much focus on non core activities, and too little focus on cost control, efficiency and effectiveness.

That means higher rates, much higher rates. Our rates are too high. And yes we do have a low 3% increase for this election year, but I wouldn’t rely on that for the long term. Regional Council rates income has increased by 190% over the last 10 years, and we should expect more of the same going forward.

It shouldn’t have to be like that. There is no reason why councils can’t be efficient and effective. That of course was part of the promise for the 1989 local government reforms. The councils should be allowed to be run like commercial enterprises. We were promised that they would be more efficient, more responsive and will provide better outcomes for the community. I don’t think that those glowing promises have worked out.

A big part of the problem is the market orientated philosophy that was imposed on councils by the government in 1989. It is a major cause of the mess that we are in today. Unfortunately, as we are seeing with the current government, when they do decide to tinker with the problem, the result always seems to be more bureaucracy, more compliance, more complexity, and more costs, and usually worse outcomes as a result. We wind up paying more for less, while being trumpeted about the bright glowing future that will result from the latest genius reforms.

In an ideal world, the central government would have a major part to play in fixing the problem. Unfortunately, they don’t seem to understand the problems, and they certainly don’t seem to have any idea about how to fix them. In fact they do not even seem to have any real intention to try and fix the problems. For government, it is all about perception, rather than real results.

In the real world, it is up to local communities to try and solve our own problems, and hope for as little interference as possible from the central government. So citizens, it is up to us to try and make our councils work better. If we want things to improve, we will have to do it ourselves.

So What Do I Propose?

We have to get council costs under control. That means that we have to understand the causes of the problem. Why are council costs so high? Where is that money going? How can we get better value? Then work out a plan, and implement it.

The first step would be an independent financial and management analysis of the council organisation. That analysis should be managed by the elected members, and be completely independent of the council staff. I would do that through the review committee for the chief executive. I would extend the terms of reference to include the performance of the entire council organisation.

The second step is to work out what that all means.

The third step is to clearly define what we want the council organisation to do. What are we expecting from council? What are the main functions? What are our priorities? What are nice to haves? What can we eliminate?

The fourth step is to work out an organisational structure that clearly represents what we want the council to do. The council structure should be designed to facilitate the council functions.

The fifth step would be to implement the new structure. We have to ensure that the right people are in management positions in the new council structure. Those managers need to have the right competence and experience to match their roles. Getting the right management in place is crucial. No more busy workers.

That Is A Big Job

That probably sounds overly ambitious. It might even sound impossible. You might be right. Perhaps it is impossible, but unless we citizens do something, we are going to find more and more of our wealth disappearing into the great big council black hole with very little to show for it.

It is a big job, and it is not a job for just one councillor on their own. If you want change please be very thoughtful about the five people you vote for in the election. It really does matter who you vote for so take the time to make a careful choice.

If we want change we need a group of councillors who are prepared to make change happen. If we vote for more of the same, we will get more of the same, and complaining afterwards won’t help.

Other Objectives

I think that the Port of Tauranga Shares should not be sold. The shares should be retained by the council. The port is a strategic local asset that should be working for our community. The Port is a blue chip investment. If it is sold off, the result will be higher port costs, and loss of local control.

As part of reorganising council, there needs to be a very careful look at fees and charges. We are paying far too much for council services.

I think we need to be more pragmatic about the environment, and be very careful with our efforts. It is very easy to waste a lot of money on things that don’t achieve much. Farming, forestry and horticulture are very important industries for the livelihood of the Bay of Plenty community. We should not be imposing unnecessary costs. Note: I am a long time lover of the New Zealand bush and our outdoors. I was a member of Forest and Bird from about 10 years old.

We need to get our buses working better. Again, part of the problem is excessive central government interference and bureaucracy.

The central government is too prescriptive, and likes to micro manage local government. Micro management is not an effective governance strategy. The central government need to get out of the way and let local communities get on with it. We need to get that message to our MP’s and the government ministers. I don’t think Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) is doing a very good job representing local councils with the government.

About Me

I am a retired engineer. I am standing for election because I am frustrated by the poor governance and management that I see in council. I am a great believer that rather than just complain, you should get in there and do something yourself. For more details see About Me. I stood in the 2024 Tauranga City Council elections.

Mount Ratepayers MRRR

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