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Ryan Bridge: Rate caps are happening, but will they work? · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: This rates cap popular politics, no doubt about it, and
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: local government needs a good kick in the pants. We
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: all know that. But does a two to four percent
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: band simply mean that we're going to pay more? In
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: other sneaky little fees? Rates aren't the only way these
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: guys make money off us. We also pay for specific
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: things like resource and building consents, limb requests, dog registrations, campgrounds.
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: Will hairdressers have to pay more to register under the
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: Health Act? Yes, this is a thing in Kaipitter for example,
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: I had a look this morning. It'll cost your business
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: four hundred and twenty three bucks, thank you very much
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: to do that. Will we pay more for a burial
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: plot at the local cemetery? That's another fee? Will we
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: pay more to register our dogs? The options are endless.
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: Waikato District Council has a document setting out the fees
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: that it wax on rate payers. It's forty five pages long.
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: Four five The governments, you know they've done this too.
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: They can change the revenue levers and stop them one,
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: but they haven't stopped them pulling the other. And actually,
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: if you look at it, this is exactly what the
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: government itself has been doing. We are seeing the rise
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: of the fee. Twenty twenty six will be the year
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: of the fee, the surcharge. The Coalition may have cut taxes,
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: but they are also overseeing one of the biggest hikes
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: in fees and charges of any government in recent history.
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: Road user charges, user pays, road tolls, congestion chargings, coming
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: fines are going up, immigration fees, airport fees, you name it.
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: If you can name it, chances are it's heading north.
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: It's a strategy. The top line number comes down, but
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: all the little bits that they hope we won't notice
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: go up. Councils will be no different. Add in the
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: water done Well fee, which is separate from this, remember,
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: which will be massive also in some places. And the
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: reality is I think that no ratepayer will feel like
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: they're getting a better deal post cap band. The question
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: is whether this is a reason not to do it,
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: of course, and the answer is probably not. But it
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: should come with tempered expectations that we won't feel fleeced
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: when the council emails those pesky quarterly rates bills to us,
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: or worse, still charges you for sending a hard copy
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: by snail mail. For more from early edition with Ryan
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: Bridge listen live to news talks it'd be from five
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: am weekdays, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio