Taking It to the Powers That Maybe Shouldn't Be?

Pictured above: The New Zealand Taxpayers' Union campaigns outside this week's Local Government New Zealand annual conference in Christchurch, where most of the attending Mayors and Councillors voted for LGNZ to use your rates against you, the taxpayer, to fight against rate-capping.

The New Zealand Taxpayers' Union (NZTU) has produced a 'Rates Dashboard' so ratepayers can compare the hikes they're currently struggling to absorb, against what's happening in other Council districts across the country. You can view it here.

The Dashbord shows the 2025 percentage increase for each Council, and also the cumulative percentage increase across the three years of the current elected representatives' tenures.

Beside each Council listing is the name of the Mayor of each Council. My suggestion is not to be reticent about emailing yours and asking for a "Please Explain" response. Email addresses (with only one Council obscuring their elected representatives' email contacts - shame on them) are findable at the "Your Council" (or similar) section of Council websites.

NZTU Executive Director, Jordan Williamson, says:

"With the new financial year now started, the Taxpayers' Union can reveal that the average council rates increase for 2025 is 8.39 percent.

"That compares to annual inflation of just 2.5 percent (to the March 2025 year). Cumulatively, over the last three years, the average rates hike is an incredible 34.52 percent.

"Over the same timeframe, inflation has been just 13.7 percent.

"Indeed, Statistics New Zealand has cited council rate hikes as a key driver of the cost-of-living crisis.

"The figures are a clear and present demonstration of why the NZTU is campaigning feverishly to "Cap Rates Now!"

To sign the NZTU's 'Cap Rates Now!' petition, click here.