Rates Angst

Following Gabrielle one of the many issues Councils had to confront was that of rates and where to go with impacted ratepayers.

For those most devastated areas the answer was simple. With such upheaval  and disruption of lives , councils could understand (or some could) that the remission of rates was the best decision.

It was an option under the Local Government Act .

The Hastings District Council chose the remission option and that was  applied to all affected ratepayers for two years.

Pretty clearcut and just decision .Sensible to see all ratepayers treated the same.

But not the Regional Council.

Councillors passed the buck. Maybe they did not understand the ramifications of  what may eventuate .

Under the Act they must have been informed Section 102 allowed them to adopt a rates remission policy.

Sounds fair enough.

Under Section 109 they could have conditions and criteria to be met in order for rates to be remitted.

Problem.

Conditions and criteria.

Who decides?

Well not the Councillors .They have washed their hands of the problem.

Staff? Yes. The staff have been given the task to formulate conditions and criteria so that staff can make a decision that will or could have a major impact on peoples lives.

This becomes a nightmare.

The Regional Council was wrong going down this path and  I wonder what advice they received before making the decision.

 After a major disaster , how does one decide on conditions and criteria to determine rates remission or not?

This policy required ratepayers to apply for rates remission ( no doubt hoping some would not) and to provide some information on ratepayers situations  to help with the decision.

I am sure this has been a major  intrusion in to peoples lives. Where do you draw the line?

At a time when people are at their most vulnerable an authority delves in to personal and private lives of ratepayers  that frankly should be  out of bounds. This is a serious but extraordinary situation .

I know that staff will treat people with respect but it's the fact they have been tasked with this exercise at all that is the problem.

  

Economic Connection

In my last post I mentioned the disparity between the non producers and the producers.

It is impossible for 'the people ' to conjure up resources to undertake a meaningful study of a given situation , especially when the situation has disadvantaged those people.

Maybe there will be help from interested parties pro bono but not often.

Two years on from Gabrielle and we have  a host of productive folk trying to get back on their feet which is difficult in itself and there are bodies using ratepayers money to produce consultants reports that will confirm the authorities direction. 

Kapiti and Waikanae ratepayers have been lucky enough to get an expert report on beach erosion and sea level non rise .They have been able to rally the troops around this report and challenge the Council and its moves on managed retreat.

In Hawkes Bay we have three areas that provide substantial income to the region and are now regrouping .

I would love to see an independent  report commissioned by the 'people' that would look at the  benefit to Hawkes Bay of these regions and just how important they are to the overall health of the Hawkes Bay and NZ economy.

This is because following a disaster such as Gabrielle it is important to get some perspective on the disaster and guage the impact on the region.

To date the reaction has been helpful but lacking purpose. The reaction has been to help  those in authority without a balancing weight.

    

          

Hot Air

Apples and Productivity or Churn

There is much talk about productivity among our political leaders.

What do they mean?

The Government has recently announced funding for the Reserve Bank for the next 5 years will be 750 million dollars. Spun as a cut from the requested 1 billion but still a lift that is reflected in other Government spheres of fiscal responsibility.

The Reserve Bank is typical of  Public Service elites whos numbers  have grown like spears of asparagus on a warm spring day .We the people are waiting for someone to arrive with a sharp knife to cut them off at the base figure. Curtail their urge to extend  in to the next office block.

More and more public servants move toward the  trough that is continually being filled by the gumbooted taxpayers slogging to eek out a living while paying the bills and being fleeced of tax to fill the trough.

These gumbooted taxpayers are the ones who are perky people who possess hopes and aspirations , dreams and desires. They battle away with a smile on their faces , actually producing something tangible for the country.  

Something that can be seen , felt and admired , put in a container and shipped off to return dollars to our once wonderful country.

May be I am unfair picking on the Reserve Bank but it is representative of what has been quietly happening with no constraint .Staffing levels have increased from 255 full time equivalents in 2017/18 to 660 by January 2025!

Treasury makes the quaint observation that they 'appear to be overstaffed'!

Well, now to the point.

This same expansion of , what to me is the unproductive sector , is reflected in Local Government.

There are a host of reasons this has occurred but it has.

The Regional Council now has over 500 on its staff.

To make the economic connection with these outrageous numbers and the flood,  we see a whole community, a number of communities , that  were  productive and by that I mean highly productive , that have been systematically dismantled and dismembered in a sense but in a strange twist  valued for their productive capabilities.

Esk Valley, Sacred Hill and Sophora Village have been salvaged but the pain and the stress endure. 

Two years down the track and the scene has changed dramatically .Many have been able to resurrect  their productive capability but at a cost. Sure those who had good insurance coverage may now be in a strong position but many have gone.

For those who are struggling on, two years has been a time lost. A hole that is hard to fill.

So. As they say today, the authorities want to keep making life difficult for those who have been disadvantaged. 

There is no flexibility with rates as the valuations in place prior to the flood are still being used and QV and Councils will not review this situation.

EQC will not cover earthquake and fire when these have nothing to do with flooding!

There is huge expenditure being proposed that is unnecessary .Works on flood control that is because of modelling  and kneejerk reactions , not logic and reason.

The productive communities I have mentioned really need recognition for their huge part in the Hawkes Bay economy and the likes of the Regional Council , sitting on $500 million, ironically half of which they  received as a result of a natural disaster, could well make a grant to people who have endured this event and help  patch the hole that the last two years has presented us with.

The productive areas of Sacred Hill, Esk Valley and Sophora Village  are far more important to Hawkes Bay than an expanding public service and ratcheting rates .

 

  

 Managed Retreat

Be afraid.

I watched a recent documentary on Managed Retreat which is one of those terms that hides a mountain of trouble.

Beavering away in the background are an army of bureaucrats working on ways to put the skids under the average bloke and blokess.

At the centre of this kind attempt to help us people out of our homes and livelihoods is , of course climate change.

Whatever we do these days is tainted by this octopus that investigates every move we dare to make and delivers an all enveloping answer .Climate change.

Historically Kiwis have found haven , hope and happiness near the coast with it's many attractions  downright beauty and  provider of peace and tranquility.

Kiwis have experienced erosion and accretion of the coastline over many years and adapted or  responded   to challenges in a practical way.

Because we have suffered from a number of recent weather events it is now considered dangerous to live and respond to nature . Councils and Government have moved to undermine commonsense responses and now have a blueprint to save our lives by legislating kiwis out of  danger and in to the clutches of city surrounds.

There .You naughty people cannot live near the sea because the sea is going to rise and swallow you up or the rivers are going to overflow and drown you.

Well the legislation that is being concocted to save us from the weather is far reaching and a disgrace.

It is being built on the likes of modelling in  response to supposed climate change and scenarios so far presented are making totally unrealistic assumptions.

The problem is , this legislative approach is going to cost the people mega dollars for nothing.

What is at foot is a crime.   

 

  

Hi Vis Heaven

I frequent places where it is compulsory to wear hi vis gear.

Places where there are trucks, forklifts, vehicles , more trucks and lots of activity.

Places you may say are slightly dangerous if you don't keep an eye open and be observant to the goings on.

Hi vis and road cones can be over the top in some situations and  there is some push back because of the expense which is now beyond the pail.

Hi vis spreads like a virus and I spied today about fifteen suits in a paddock wearing  hi vis vests which underlined the overkill by officious bureaucrats that were meeting in a paddock to discuss a problem conjured up by computer modelling , that would never eventuate , never occur because lighting doesn't strike twice in the same place , yet here they were looking all important with the odd clipboard and concerned looks on their faces as they pondered how to waste ratepayers money on   a scheme that would never be used .

These hi vis suits have been captured by the results of an event that is over .It happened. It conquered us briefly and slammed us against a wall.

It's too late now. The horse has bolted. 

This belated effort to shut the door is costing millions and any effort to try and talk commonsense , reason, take a practical approach has been lost .

The suits win.

They have the high salaries , the fancy names , the computer modelling skills, the degrees so who are the wise to question them.

It's what gets me in the end.

They are using our money , that is ratepayers money to scatter in the wind. A total waste and then they come for more and threaten us if we object.

     

 

 Continuing Frustration

Following the two year meetup of flood friends it  was notable that considerable frustration was evident among those trying to put their lives back together.

It was all coming from one source and confirms  my belief that the closed ears of one authority in particular , is the root of many problems.

It is likely that we will never gain any ground in trying to find common ground or meaningful dialogue as long as the same staff remain. There is a bureaucratic resistance in place that is likely because of loss of faith or just some miniscule admission of fault.

Fault does not mean that any one person should be responsible for a very complicated situation but fault should be admitted in the sense that no one was prepared for what happened that day and major contributing factors came from an accumulation or a series of   events that added to massive damage.

The response has been to appear to be fixing the problem when in actual fact they are spending millions in the wrong areas.

I also discovered the Regional Council made a curious decision on rates that may mean they are breaching the Bill of Rights .

Hastings DC simply remitted rates for two years .They could see that any attempt at picking and choosing who should pay rates following such a major event , would be fraught with difficulty.

The Regional Council however implemented a policy where affected persons had to apply for rates remission.

This puts staff in a terrible position.

The exercise has become and intrusive, personal, means testing of ratepayers who differ from each other in their situations like chalk and cheese.

There are corporates, small businesses, retired folk, life style blocks, farms,  professional people and absentee owners.

Where does one draw the line.

It is discriminatory to say 'a' should pay rates but 'b' is exempt.

This is not a normal situation where rates remission is considered.

This is a big fail from the RC.

Added to the frustration is the fact they are basing the rates on valuations struck the year preceding the flood.

This is another reason they should have remitted all rates until after the next valuations are due. 

   

Democracy Again

Years ago when politics began to change ,I remember looking up democracy with that great thing called a search engine.

There was change afoot and I felt the very basis of democracy was being challenged .At that stage I was not too concerned but concerned enough to refresh my thinking .Refresh my thoughts on my job as an elected representative.

Yes I did believe in democracy .It's the best option we have even with its flaws and distortions with the introduction of MMP.

I remember talking to a colleague about the situation and he agreed that democracy as we knew it , was indeed being challenged.

I think my observations at that time were  accurate .

The last twenty years has seen a gradual erosion in democratic principles and a replacement with a dictatorial bureaucracy. I say this with Local Government.in mind.

There has been a massive shift in power from elected members to unelected , unseen, invisible, university indoctrinated elite.

There used to be a healthy balance where elected members could challenge and change unwanted rules and regulations promulgated by impractical servants.

Now we have wishy washy elected members with a permanent tick in their hands .Many with no practical knowledge of life or challenging experiences to call on and a personal agenda in their back pocket.

I was shocked and elated to hear these words spoken in Europe in the weekend.

Quote "To believe in democracy is to understand that each of our citizens has wisdom and has a voice"

and " dismissing people , dismissing their concerns ,shifting people out of the political process -this protects nothing, it's a sure way to destroy democracy."

These words from JD Vance on a world stage .

This is what has been happening even in our own little backwater .Our small community here in Hawkes Bay.

I mention these quotes as they explain something that has become even more apparent since Gabrielle. Maybe it was like a catalyst that exposed what really has happened to our institutions  .

It was confirmed to me after a wonderful get together on Friday to meet up with fellow flood dwellers who had major problems dealing with various bodies since the cyclone.

Their experiences since the flood told the story.

I will expand in the next post.