Waipa has a higher debt per ratepayer than Hamilton and has seen a significant increase in residents struggling or unable to pay their rates. With the upcoming rate-able year bringing an over 15% increase in rates, followed by a 9% increase the following year, financial pressure on ratepayers is mounting. Additionally, there will be a massive increase in debt to fund new infrastructure that must be repaid in the years ahead—at a time when global uncertainty is creating an unpredictable social and financial future.
Any council borrowing over NZ$20 million from the Local Government Funding Agency (LGFA) must become both a shareholder and a guarantor, yet the New Zealand Government does not guarantee LGFA council debt—meaning no external rescue will come to ease the burden. As a guarantor, your council—meaning you, the ratepayer—becomes liable not only for your own council’s debt but for all LGFA council debt across New Zealand. A council cannot simply remove itself from this liability by paying off it's own debt; all debt owed to the LGFA must be repaid by the guarantors before any council can be released from it's financial obligations.
If a council borrowing from the LGFA fails to meet it's interest or loan repayments, all other councils are liable on a pro-rata basis, determined by their share of total LGFA borrowing. As of this moment county wide Council, LGFA debt stands at NZ$29 billion and rising. For Waipa, this means an estimated 1% commitment toward covering any council's unpaid interest or mortgage repayments—creating the potential for a domino effect where financial instability in one council could lead to widespread consequences.
Current Councillors were warned upon their election that Waipa was heading into a perfect financial storm, yet an additional NZ$50 million was borrowed, bringing total LGFA debt to NZ$392 million. Should these Councillors shoulder the full blame for our current predicament? Perhaps not—especially considering that councils across New Zealand appear to be following the same path, implementing 15-minute cities, smart cities, and green agendas that come from outside our local government and bring added costs and bureaucracy—expenses that ratepayers are ultimately responsible for.
This system of control, embedded within government departments for years, brings extra costs and red tape, forcing ratepayers to foot the bill across towns and cities nationwide. It is alarming to think that, due to inept actions and outright mismanagement within our council system, many residents could lose ownership of their homes and properties through no fault of their own.
Every three years, we elect representatives for central, regional, and local government, but does this truly bring meaningful change, or are we just trapped in an endless cycle? Who truly holds the power in New Zealand? Does change come from the top down or the bottom up? Perhaps it must come from both ends at the same time
Let’s make this election count before we are left riding bicycles in our 15-minute towns and cities.
Vote for BETTER WAIPA candidates and secure a better council.
