Chair of the Mayoral Forum, Hauraki Mayor Toby Adams, is often asked - what does council do anyway?

Another way to phrase that question is to ask what would life be like if councils didn’t do what they do? Here are Mayor Toby's thoughts.

Imagine toilets not flushing waste away, no treated, drinkable water coming out of taps on demand, rubbish piling up, stormwater going where it shouldn’t – and that’s before you leave your house. Once outside, it’s libraries, swimming pools, footpaths, town beautification, parks and reserves, emergency management, animal control, local roads, safe places to eat and countless other things that make up what a council does to build thriving communities.

When you look at it like that, paying rates makes sense. In fact, in all honesty, it’s one of the best values you get for your tax dollar.

On the flip side, just to keep delivering essential services at the current level, there’s a cost involved, and as you know, costs have increased dramatically in the last year or so. We’re facing high interest rates on our borrowings, high depreciation rates on assets that have increased in value and a skyrocketing increase in materials and labour costs. Add to that compliance costs from central government and the picture is a bit bleak. The only way for councils to recover costs is through the Rating Act and the rating system. It’s a pretty blunt tool but it’s the only one we have to use. We want to see that change.

Councils borrow money for infrastructure projects, so that the principle and interest cost can be shared by every generation that benefits from it – just like paying a mortgage over many years. Interest rates and depreciation rates are out of councils’ control. What is in our control is working with our communities to find out where the compromises are. That’s where the public consultations on the Long Term Plan comes in.

The best advice I (Mayor Toby Adams) can give people out there is to get involved in the consultations. Grab the opportunity with both hands. Your feedback really does help inform council decisions!

For now, we’ve got mahi to do to balance delivering the current service levels and infrastructure and still stay ahead of the bowave of demand for more. If we don’t cover costs of depreciation now, for instance, we’re just kicking the problem down the road for a future generation to deal with and we don’t want to be in that place.

In the current cost of living crisis, having your say in how your rates are spent has never been more important. Now’s the time to get involved in the kōrero for your community – I hope you’ll take it.

Ngā mihi,

Mayor Toby Adams