Rates Increase
A Ratepayers Perspective on Rates Rises
All the rhetoric, statements and documents portray that the proposed 15.5% (or 2x 9.5%) rates rise in the budget of the 10 Year Plan is needed to stem the bleeding of borrowing $10 million per year to fund the shortfall in the day to day running of the city. However that has not been communicated well, most people and all of the candidates' bar one in the recent by-election believed that the proposed rates rise is to fund growth, particularly Peacockes.
Current Rate take $153.747 million + 9.5% rate Rise = $168.353 million ($14.6 million rise)
New Rate take $168.353 million + 9.5% rate rise = $184.346 million (another $15.994 million) without the property valuation, effectively the figure will be more (a lot more).
At a bare minimum, the 2 x 9.5% rates rise council will gain a nett increase of $30.599 million over 2 years. That exceeds any of the figures over the numbers of years that the borrowing occurred.
The 10 Year Plan must have been written by extra-terrestrials for the dyslectic it is confusing particularly because it is contradictory rather than complimentary.
The issue is the projected $30.599 million gain in revenue vs the $4 million pa shortfall in the day to day running of the city, particularly in view that Hamilton’s economy only grew by 2.8% for the year considerably below the any of the proposed rates increases.
The attached tables clearly indicate that it appears illogical to increase rates by 107.98% when the revenue base only increases by 27.45%.
Ratepayer Growth (Increase) over 10 Year Plan 16, 056 $27.45%
Rates Increase over 10 Year Plan $165.283 million 107.98%
A Ratepayers Perspective on Rates Rises (Table).docx Download View
⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️
It's a message we share time and time again, and this year, we're calling on you to help us spread that message further.
Did you know that calls to SPCA about dogs left inside hot cars made up a whopping 11% of all welfare calls last summer? This is a completely preventable issue, and one which is causing hundreds of dogs (often loved pets) to suffer.
Here are some quick facts to share with the dog owners in your life:
👉 The temperature inside a car can heat to over 50°C in less than 15 minutes.
👉 Parking in the shade and cracking windows does little to help on a warm day. Dogs rely on panting to keep cool, which they can't do in a hot car.
👉 This puts dogs at a high risk of heatstroke - a serious condition for dogs, with a mortality rate between 39%-50%.
👉 It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act to leave a dog in a hot vehicle if they are showing signs of heat stress. You can be fined, and prosecuted.
SPCA has created downloadable resources to help you spread the message even further. Posters, a flyer, and a social media tile can be downloaded from our website here: www.spca.nz...
We encourage you to use these - and ask your local businesses to display the posters if they can. Flyers can be kept in your car and handed out as needed.
This is a community problem, and one we cannot solve alone. Help us to prevent more tragedies this summer by sharing this post.
On behalf of the animals - thank you ❤️
Poll: Would you rather: Christmas in summer forever or winter forever?
Just a bit of a fun poll to get you thinking.
If you had to live out your Christmas days, would you prefer it was a summer Christmas or a winter Christmas?
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62% Summer
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36.5% Winter
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1.5% Other - I'll share below
How are you celebrating Christmas this year?
From hot air balloon rides to cotton ball scooping games, folks around Hamilton have their festive plans sorted.
On a sunny Monday when most people are already on holiday, there were a few homecomers on Hamilton streets.
How are you celebrating Christmas this year? Tell us in the comments (adding NFP if you don't want your words used in print).
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