Raglan Ratepayers plan to dispel myth that Waikato’s country ratepayers subsidise their towns

Media Release by John Lawson, 1.02.2012. 

Raglan resident, John Lawson, will be one of several ratepayers putting submissions to Waikato District Council at their Rating Review this week. He says he’s sure Waikato District Council will realise the injustice of their vote against abolishing targeted rates when they hear his evidence. He says he’ll show that all the towns are subsidising the country areas, despite their lower average incomes. In particular, John will point out that 80% of Raglan residents are paying over 5% of their income in rates, against a District average of 23%.

In 2011 Waikato District spent an average of $5.49 on each metre of road. However, ratepayers on Raglan’s Cliff St are contributing $34 per metre of their frontages, Semple St in Huntly $32 and Durham St, Ngaruawahia $25. Country ratepayers are paying well below average, even where roads are better than many in the towns. Ratepayers on some unsealed roads are paying as little as 25 cents a metre.

John said, “It’s not only unfair to individuals, but it compounds the economic problems of the towns. They suffer from lower average incomes and higher average unemployment.” Council will be shown these graphs showing that rates are almost in inverse proportion to the ability of ratepayers to pay them.

I’m up against a myth that we have footpaths, libraries and the like subsidised by country ratepayers” said John and went on, “The truth is those costs are insignificant compared to the cost of roading, which is taking 41.6% of Waikato’s general rate this year.”

John will be suggesting the solution is to get rid of targeted rates, which form about half the rates paid by town-dwellers, but as little as 5% in country areas. He’s hopeful the Council will listen. He said, “I think they’ve just gone along with that myth, but I think most of the members aim to be fair and they’ll change their minds when they’ve heard the evidence.”
John Lawson will be giving evidence at 1.20pm on Thursday 2 February at WDC’s Ngaruawahia offices. For more information ring 825 7866.