South Wairarapa mayor Dame Fran Wilde said the impact of all the proposed local government reforms was not yet known. Photo: Supplied
In the fourth of a summer series on Wairarapa leaders' views on the government's proposed local council reforms, South Wairarapa mayor and former Wellington mayor, Dame Fran Wilde, shares her perspectives.
The government's recently proposed council shake-up has been called the most wide-ranging in a generation.
Changes include scrapping regional councils, introducing a rates cap of between 2 - 4 percent, and a simplification of planning legislation.
"There will be substantial changes for local government, which will impact on residents in different ways," Wilde said.
"The changes to regional councils are particularly important because at present there is significant funding coming into Wairarapa - more than we pay the regional council in rates."
Wilde said it was early days and a detailed review of functions and funding was needed to better understand the situation.
"Whether or not a rates cap works depends on the formula applied. At present it's difficult to understand the rationale for the formula, and I suspect that the implications of how it works have not been understood by whoever devised it."
She said small rural councils had little flexibility in their budgets because they were mostly paying for infrastructure.
"Delaying work on roads and bridges will simply exacerbate current problems.
"With small populations, increasing user charges will not bring in sufficient revenue and in any case, these costs fall on the same people who pay the rates," said Wilde.
"The radical alternatives would be to close facilities such as libraries, swimming pools and playing fields. I can imagine how the community would react if this were suggested.
"For Wairarapa, an amalgamation proposal will help by lowering administrative costs and gaining economies of scale, as well as providing a strong, unified platform for strategic initiatives in what would still be a relatively small population."
Wilde said the people needed to understand the cost of not having the regional council subsidy for its work, even if some of that work was decreased by the Resource Management Act reforms.
"Basically, we don't yet know exactly the impact of all these reforms."
Wilde urged residents to read the consultation documents, available on the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) website, and make a submission.
Consultation on the rates capping proposals runs until next month. The related legislation was currently planned to be enacted this year, and come into force next January.
This would mark the start of a transition period, allowing councils to integrate the cap into planning. During this period, councils would report on financial metrics while DIA monitored progress and provided guidance.
Consultation on the regional council proposals is also open until February. A final proposal would be confirmed by March to enable legislation to be drafted.
The views of Wairarapa MP Mike Butterick, Labour list MP Kieran McAnulty, and Wairarapa-based Green MP, Celia Wade-Brown on the proposed changes have already appeared in the series.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air
