Source: Taxpayers Union
3 FEBRUARY 2021FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Taxpayers’ Union is calling on the Tauranga City Council’s commissioners to follow constitutional convention and run the Council in a caretaker mode before elected governance can be re-established.“Suggestions that unelected Commissioners may ram up rates are alarming,” says Executive Director of the Taxpayers’ Union, Jordan Williams. “Tauranga’s rates are already among the highest in the country – 12th out of 66 territorial authorities, or fifth for commercial rates.”“Whenever unelected people are in charge of democratic institutions the general practice is they must keep to the status quo as much as possible in a ‘caretaker mode’. It is no different for local government.”“Here, the convention of ‘no taxation without representation’ rings true. Rates should not be hiked by unelected administrators who have no direct accountability link to ratepayers.”
