Rates are rising – but where’s the responsibility?

Hamilton households and businesses are bracing for another sharp rise in rates – we saw 16.5% last year with another 15.5% that hit us on the 1^st of July this year – just yesterday. These aren’t minor adjustments. They point to a deeper issue: how well our Council is managing the city’s finances – and whether those decisions reflect prudent stewardship of ratepayers’ money.

Most Hamiltonians understand that costs are rising across the board. But when we look at Council’s books, we see a pattern that feels all too familiar: big spending, inefficiencies, under-planning, and passing the consequences back to ratepayers.

In just the past few years, Hamilton City Council has taken on record levels of debt, largely driven by an ambitious (and expensive) capital programme and overly optimistic growth projections. That was more manageable while interest rates were low. Now, with debt servicing one of Council’s largest expenses, the cracks are showing – and we’re all being asked to paper over them – yet again.

Local businesses are particularly exposed. Through recent conversations with business owners, it’s clear the pressure is real. One café owner in Rototuna estimated their general rates bill had increased by over $600 in the last year – a figure consistent with a 16.5% rise on a typical small business commercial rates bill. That’s money that would otherwise go toward wages, power bills, or even just staying afloat during slower months. They already work from the early hours of the morning to evening, 6-7 days a week just to make ends meet. Yet if you look at the HCC long term plan you will see they are going to be hit again and again, and again. How long will they survive? It is not just the cost of their rates you must also consider how rates increases are hurting the amount of discretionary spending ratepayers have for luxuries, such as eating out. This drop in disposable income across Hamilton will hurt many businesses.

In Te Rapa, a warehousing operator said their rates had jumped by “mid-four figures” – an estimate in line with increases faced by larger commercial ratepayers. They’re now reconsidering staffing levels and shelving plans to expand.

These aren’t isolated cases. They reflect what many Hamilton businesses are facing as margins tighten. These operators aren’t asking for special treatment. They’re simply asking for a Council that manages its finances with the same restraint and foresight they apply in their own businesses. As the Council essentially operates as a monopoly, council does not face the competition for customers that these businesses do. They therefore need to take the responsibility of fiscal prudence much more seriously. Many people in Hamilton are starting ask the question: what happened to fiscal prudence?

Council maintains that the rate hikes are a response to unavoidable cost pressures – depreciation, inflation, and rising interest payments. But prudent financial management isn’tabout reacting late. It’s about forward planning, prioritising core efficient infrastructure spending, and resisting the temptation to overcommit when the economic outlook is uncertain.

Ratepayers don’t expect perfection – but we do expect accountability and transparency. That means drawing a clearer line between wants and needs, making hard calls early, and spending our ratepayer money carefully, like one would if it were your own.

We all want a thriving, well-serviced city. But we also want a Council that understands the difference between investment and indulgence. When Council borrows heavily to fund everything at once, then hikes rates to catch up, it’s not a plan – it’s a patch job.

Hamilton deserves better. It’s time for a reset – back to basics, back to fiscal discipline, and back to respecting the people who pay the bills.

Because fiscal responsibility shouldn’t just be a catchphrase. It should be the foundation on which trust is rebuilt.

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