On July 16th, Auckland Council voted in support of the 3.5 per cent general rates increase. 

Rodney Councillor Greg Sayers was one of three councillors who voted against the increase.

The mandate from the public was clear: over 75 per cent of the submissions from Rodney residents wanted a 2.5 per cent rate increase or less.

Across all of Auckland the message was the same, with 64 per cent of Aucklanders wanting a 2.5 per cent rates increase, or less. The Rodney Local Board voted for a 3.5 per cent rates increase.

The feedback from both the community and Greg Sayers has been much the same: people are still struggling financially from the repercussions of Covid-19, so the last thing the community needs right now is more taxes.

Alternative solutions to increasing rates include: central government taking the City Rail Link debt off Auckland Council’s books, bringing pay rates for Council staff paid over $100,000 back into line with the private sector, implementing a Royal Commission recommendation to have an independent performance auditor reside over Council to provide independent assurances to the public that Council was providing high-quality services in a cost-effective way, or central government returning a fair share of GST collected from Auckland back to Auckland.

Mayor Phil Goff says, "We are cutting costs wherever possible and finding savings and efficiencies where we can".

However, according to the Auckland Rate Payers’ Alliance, total expenditure is budgeted to increase by another five per cent in the emergency budget.