Otago Regional Council rates increases explained
We have received our Otago Regional Council rates for the 2024-25 year.
Since the 2016-17 year, the rates have risen 690% from $91.34 to $630.04.
This must be the worse increase for any council in New Zealand.
There have been the usual excuses of blaming the government of the day but neither council management nor councillors have taken any austerity measures to counteract their funding issues relying on the poor ratepayer.
Every day you read of extravagant spending, lack of cost control, poor decision making and work creation schemes that seem to be prevalent in all councils.
It is time central government took councils to task and passed legislation limiting rate increases to the rate of inflation to force them into cost control.
The ratepayer is not a cash cow!
[Response from Otago Regional Council general manager finance Nick Donnelly:
Current rates bills include rates that either didn’t exist in 2016-17 or the activity provided now is fundamentally different. The civil defence and emergency management function was transferred from district/city councils and the ORC started rating for this regionally in 2017-18.
Biosecurity was a new rate established in 2021-22 to fund increased activity to implementation the Regional Pest Management Plan.
A catchment management rate was introduced this year and funds council’s environmental implementation activity, including biodiversity and water quality improvement projects like Lake Hayes. The council took over the contracting of public transport services in the Whakatipu in late 2017 and has continued to grow and improve the Orbus service since. There was a significant cost and therefore rates increased when this service moved to the council.
Transport rates have progressively increased over the last five years as a result.
Despite transport rate increases not all the operating cost of this activity has been funded and this year’s rates reflect an increase to ensure that happens, and to start repaying the existing deficit over the next five years.
These increases have been as a result of public feedback to do more in these areas, government directives and reviews to ensure the council’s level of service was sufficient and fit for purpose.
While these rates increases have allowed the council to increase the level of service to meet the community expectation, the council has remained focused on minimising increases wherever possible. As a result the ORC’s average rate still remains the second lowest of the regional councils in the country.]
My regional council rates have increased by a whopping 41.4%. How on earth can they justify an increase of that magnitude when superannuation has only been increased by 4.6% this year?
Quite frankly, living in Central Otago, I find it very difficult to understand what benefit we get from a council that sits so far away from us and appears to be out of touch with the needs of our region.
It's a damn pity Dunedin residents aren’t demonstrating about the massive rates increases that have occurred and will continue unabated. Not to mention increases from ORC as well.
Two sets of rates (theft in disguise). This draining of funds from the public has to stop. There’s a limit to what people can afford.
City centre location not a benefit to rest of region
One thing is now very clear as a result of the Dunedin hospital cost blowout: the political allegiance of the ODT.
Any pretence of editorial balance has been blasted right out of town.
Thank goodness for the handful of online media sites which remain dedicated to common sense.
As a Wānaka resident, I too am disappointed that the nearest major public health facility is at risk of being scaled back and hope that the parties involved can resolve cost issues without reduction of planned facilities.
Attending a central Dunedin hospital is a significant undertaking involving 3-4 hours travel, parking difficulties and accommodation costs.
It was with some foreboding that I learned of the original decision to locate the new building in the city centre rather than on the fringe, as construction was clearly going to be unpredictably difficult, disruptive and expensive.
I appreciate that city locals desired the benefits of proximity to other facilities and a thriving city centre, but those things would be of little benefit to us wider Otago patients.
Recently I have observed a tendency for more surgical and specialist care to be outsourced to closer privately operated facilities, and I suspect the resulting cost to the taxpayer could be lower due to competition, versus inherent inefficiencies in public services, and this tendency suits me just fine.
Te Whatu Ora’s performance needs examined
I have read Robert Rust’s review report of the new Dunedin hospital build.
In this connection it is really rich of the Minister of Health, Dr Reti to claim that the Labour-led government didn’t budget for a number of items, including the pathology lab, 250 extra carparks and transformation costs from the old hospital to the new.
This is true, it didn’t, but the reason it didn’t was because a business case for these items, although having been prepared, was never presented to them — a failing of officials, not the government.
Also, as far as the pathology lab is concerned, it presently operates as a private business that rents hospital space from Te Whatu Ora.
Rust suggests asking the business if it would be prepared to provide its own space.
I would go further than that demand that it does.
You could "bet your bottom dollar" that if it came to a choice between providing their own space, or losing their business, that they would do exactly that.
A further issue that Rust identifies is that no-one person or entity is responsible for an overview of the whole project — there are various disparate workstreams, but no overall co-ordination.
The performance of Margie Apa, head of Te Whatu Ora (since 2022) in this regard needs examining.
Surely the first appointment she should have made, in relation to this build, the biggest hospital build in NZ in current times, was to appoint an officer or a suitable group of officers to be in overall control of the project?
No wonder there is such a shambles at present.
Address Letters to the Editor to: Otago Daily Times, PO Box 517, 52-56 Lower Stuart St, Dunedin. Email: editor@odt.co.nz
