Councils and unpaid rates

 Stuff reports: “Millions of dollars in unpaid council rates have been taken directly from property owners’ mortgages in the past year. A little-known clause of the Local Government (Rating) Act 2002 [Section 62] gives councils the power to force people’s banks or finance companies to cover unpaid rates… If a rates defaulter owns a property outright, and thus has no mortgage, a council will use in-house rates chasers, or debt collectors to get payment. If that doesn’t work, councils have the power to go to the high court for an order to sell or lease a property to recover the rates.”

Council credit ratings

 Local councils are quick to crow about their AA credit ratings, as if it is an endorsement of their financial management. It isn’t. A credit rating measures the ability of a borrower to meet the financial obligations required of it under the terms of its loan agreements.  Typically, it is measured by an independent ratings company like Standard & Poor's, so lenders know their risk.

Local authorities are low-risk borrowers. Rarely do they default on their loan obligations because they have captive ratepayers to squeeze when things turn sour. Ratepayers must pay whatever is demanded of them - there is no right of objection. Their only recourse is to speak out against excessive rate increases and vote for candidates who commit to capping rate increases.

We believe the size of a council's rate increase is a better reflection of its money management skills. On that score, our local councils perform very poorly (Kaipara is the exception). 

Sign wars

 

Whangarei's longest-serving councillor and Deputy Mayor Phil Halse says the council needs to include advertising on its road signs to “reduce the [financial] burden on ratepayers”.

The comment was made during a debate about attracting more visitors to the council's loss-making Hundertwasser Art Centre. Cr Halse was not specific about the form the advertising would take. Perhaps he had in mind something like "Left turn for Town Basin and the Warehouse where everyone gets a bargain" or maybe something subtle like using the McDonalds “M” logo in the sign to Te Ka“M"o.

We are not sure if Cr Halse was being serious, but needless to say, he did not persuade the sign regulating authorities that it was a genius idea.

As it happens, not only was Cr Halse’s idea rejected, so too was the request for Hundertwasser-specific signage. The NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi and WDC staff opposed it because there were already too many signs on SH1 directing people to the Town Basin, and they pointed out, “road safety guidelines require signs to be brief, clear and readable at a glance." We wonder if that also applies to bilingual signs.

Readers write - Kianga Ora troubles

Kianga Ora troubles

“Since the opening of the Kianga Ora housing estate on Puriri Park Road, cars have been speeding down the road sometimes during the day, but always at night, usually at weekends after 11 pm. Also, burnouts are happening regularly as can be seen from the tyre marks down the street. Someone is going to be killed/maimed shortly as one of these adrenaline/drug-fuelled drivers loses control or runs down a senior citizen crossing from the rest home. I hear the cars accelerating down the street. I have contacted the council, the Mayor, and our local MP, but they are only interested in grandstanding. The cure is speed humps. We need them before a school child or senior citizen is killed.” – Name withheld.

Inside the NRC - continued

In the last issue, we quoted from a source within the NRC that revealed:

·     A DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) course is now mandatory for all new staff as part of their induction.

·  Use of pronouns (him/her/he/she/they/them, etc) is being encouraged “to respect each other’s identities” (presumably “they” can have more than one).

·      There is talk of a 'Māori Employment Strategy' to increase the number of 'Māori' staff to 25% of total staff numbers, and

·     Staff must attend a full-day course at a Marae to learn about Māori culture and the Treaty of Waitangi.

Our source tells all managers were required to attend a 2-day Wananga (Māori educational workshop) and an overnight stay at a Marae.

Q & A with Mayor Cocurullo

This is the latest in a series of interviews with candidates standing in the local body elections. Thank you to everyone who sent in questions for WDC Mayor Vince Cocurullo.

Q & A with Mayor Vince Cocurullo

Letterbox question (Q): What do you consider to be your greatest achievement in your three years as Mayor?

Mayor Cocurullo's answer (A): Bringing all of Northland’s councils together as a unified region. That has given us strength when lobbying central government on critical infrastructure. The fast-tracking of the four-lane highway to Auckland and the Whangarei hospital are good examples of the gains we have made.

Inside the NRC

LETTERBOX has received documents revealing turmoil within the Northland Regional Council (NRC). We are told that many staff members are very unhappy with changes being proposed but fear their jobs may be at risk if they speak out publicly.

A source has revealed the following (in italics): 

“1. DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) is well underway. A DEI course is now mandatory for all new staff as part of their induction. Use of pronouns is being encouraged, though not mandatory. There is talk of a 'Maori Employment Strategy' to increase the number of 'Maori' staff to 25% of total staff numbers to reflect the percentage of the Maori population in Northland, though this has not been officially announced yet. This has created division and exclusion at NRC, the complete opposite of the 'supposed' intention of DEI. Up until recently, the culture at NRC was a great place to work, but that's all changing, and not for the better.

An internal memo written by a senior staff member says:

Wellington watch - Treaty Principles Bill

The committee hearing submissions on the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill has terminated the submission process early and reported back to Parliament with a recommendation that the Bill proceed no further. The Committee received 307,000 submissions to the Bill. 90% were opposed.

The matter will now go back to Parliament for its second reading and be voted down by every party except ACT. It will be a dead duck by Easter.

Perversely, the committee's decision to cut short the submission process brought howls from the likes of Labour’s Duncan Webb, who accused the committee of being anti-democratic, when the Labour Party had previously said the matter should not have been heard at all! 

Reader writes...Pride in our flag

 “I am encouraging others to fly the New Zealand flag with pride. It symbolises national unity and democracy, and respects those who have fought and died for the values we believe in. Let’s stand with pride under a flag that represents and respects those values and reject symbols of division.” - anon

Mega-sized wind turbines

Mercury Energy has begun work on Northland’s first windfarm. The $287 million project consists of 12 turbines, located 12km northwest of Dargaville and 3 km inland from the coast.  At full production, the “farm” is expected to generate enough power for 27,000 homes. The power will feed into Northpower’s substation near Dargaville via a 14km transmission line.

At a total height of 206 metres (125m tower and 81 metre blades), the turbines will be the second-highest structures in New Zealand – behind the Sky Tower in Auckland at 328 meters. Full generation is expected by the end of next year.