Petition of Reynold Macpherson for Rotorua District Residents and Ratepayers Inc: Defer, freeze, or cut rates, including by Rotorua Lakes Council, due to COVID-19

Published date: 16 Apr 2020
Petition request

That the House of Representatives pass legislation requiring all councils, including Rotorua Lakes Council, to offer the deferral of outstanding 2019-2020 rates for 6 or 12 months and to freeze or cut rates for 2020-2021, to help boost recovery from the COVID-19 crisis.
Petition reason

The views of senior MPs from both major parties as expressed at the Epidemic Response Committee, that local governments should freeze and cut rates to ease the burden on ratepayers, seems to be being set aside by some councils. Rotorua Lakes Council, for example, may consider increasing rates to fund ‘targeted support’ which could introduce inequities, duplicate central government packages and, if emulated more widely, retard New Zealand’s social and economic recovery from COVID-19.

View the petition here.