29th - Kaipara Konnection - Dargaville.BIZ

Great men’s errors are to be venerated as more fruitful
than little men’s truths. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
The Rates Conundrum
To pay or not to pay – that is the question.
The first rates demand issued under the Long Term Plan that was adopted at the final Kaipara District council meeting
on 30 th August 2012 is due to hit the mailboxes very shortly. The helpful staff have put up a rates calculator on the
Council website which allows anyone to enter an address and see what the rates were last year and what they are
going to be this year.
The editor has compiled a simple spreadsheet of 18 like properties across the District from Baylys Beach to Mangawhai
Head. Actual street numbers have not been included to protect the privacy of the property owners. The compilation is
shown in graphical form here.
The percentage increase was supposed to be an average of 19% according to at least two mainstream media reports
here and here. Another major lie in the ongoing saga of spin and deceit from the former Mayor, Deputy Mayor and
inept Councillors. The graph shown below, based on the increases in the 18 properties shows that only one property (in
Pouto Road) comes in under 20%. The average increase for the 18 properties is in fact 36.05%. The hardest hit property
on the list is in Insley Street Mangawhai Village with a rate increase of 72.73%. The rates for that property go from
$1828.90 to $3159.10 this year. These figures are taken from the Kaipara District Council website. That is an actual
increase of $1330.20 per year or $25.58 per week. For someone on a fixed income that is an almost impossible amount
of money to find and the chances of selling the property are not promising. Inside sources tell Kaipara Konnection that
property sales are increasing but prices are still falling. What a catch 22 situation to be in.
The Ink Spot
Phone: (09) 439 5158 E-Mail: darginkspot@slingshot.co.nz
http://inkspot.nscoc.com