Central vs Local Government - Where Are The Lines Drawn?

This election should be focused on competition of good ideas and policies.

Many of us feel that WCC could do a much better job. However, it isn't helpful for the Finance Minister to label and dismiss the concerns of councils all around the country as 'whining'.

We know that there is a huge imbalance of revenue intake between central and local government (approx 90% vs 10%), while local governments own approx 36% of the infrastructure and are expected to maintain it.

There is a lot more that the central government can do better, too, such as providing more social housing, coordinating and funding climate change/climate resilience initiatives.

What about sharing the GST collected for new builds with local governments to fund the much-needed maintenance on infrastructure? This idea was discussed at the 2050 Local Government Forum in Wellington on 12 June - it was said that potentially 50% of the GST may be returned to councils in the next budget. I'd like to hear more about this from the central government.

What else do you think the central government can do reasonably to assist?

www.rnz.co.nz

Finance Minister Nicola Willis says councils should stop whining, and cut costs

Rates rises are pushing up inflation and councils need to stop the waste, the Finance Minister says.

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