On Monday 10 August we attended a Labour Party meeting where Kapiti electorate candidate Sophie Handford and Labour Party spokesperson for Local Government, Tangi Utikere.  We questioned their position on amalgamation – we have already posted on this – but we also asked where Labour stands on rates capping.

The answer?

Labour currently has no fixed position.

Utikere said Labour would wait until it sees the Government’s proposed rates-capping legislation before deciding whether it supports it, and would then assess the implications for things such as transport and infrastructure spending.

We then asked a different question: What is Labour’s own principled position on rates capping — regardless of what the current Government proposes?

There wasn’t one.

Instead, Labour talked about finding new revenue tools for councils, including possibilities such as sharing GST or having Government agencies pay rates on their regional properties.  But Utikere made no actual commitments on any of these either. 

Some of us have been around long enough to remember that such ideas have been talked about since the mid-1980s, at least.  But no government – National-led or Labour-led – since then have actually done them.  The reason is simple – they cost a lot of money.  And when the incoming government – whoever it is – will face a large fiscal deficit even before they have to pay for everything else that they have promised, don’t hold your breath for GST revenue sharing or government agencies paying rates anytime soon.

What we didn’t hear was any discussion about getting council spending under control.

In an answer to a question, Utikere did promise that “unfunded mandates” — responsibilities passed from central government to councils without adequate funding — would be stopped by Labour.  Unfortunately for us, if you look at the reasons why our rates have been going up so much in recent years, the biggest reason by far is the lack of cost control on KCDC’s own internal costs, not unfunded mandates. 

DISCLAIMER:   CRK is not aligned to any political party. Our focus is on how Central Government decisions affect local government — and ultimately, the rates we all pay.

We’ll continue asking the questions and reporting back on what the political parties are actually proposing on local government issues.  Because Kapiti ratepayers deserve to know who will stand up for rates affordability.

We’ll be attending other party candidates’ meetings – including the upcoming National Party and NZ First meetings in Kapiti – and will report back on their positions on amalgamation and other local government issues.

Kapiti deserves to know where every party stands.