Here we go again. More local Government reorganisation that's going to make for huge savings to ratepayers and more streamlined decision making at grass roots services level. Yeah right!

The more things change, the more they stay the same. As the only remaining elected member from 1989's forced amalgamation of Tauranga, Mount and Papamoa I am in a position to comment on the reality versus the fantasy of what is likely to happen should Tauranga, Western Bay and the Regional Council be forced into a super council, like Government is doing to Auckland.

Bigger not better
First, there is unlikely to be savings. In my opinion the 1989 reorganisation (euphemistically called ‘reforms') cost Tauranga ratepayers plenty. To change anything, first you have to change the people, and everyone was guaranteed a job as a result. Albeit some moved out of Council employment – for example Council Works Department became a Local Authority Trading Enterprise (LATE) with capital supplied by ratepayers. Aspen Contractors did very well, in the face of vocal naysayers, and eventually sold at a good gain to ratepayers. Bigger is not necessarily better and there is the ongoing risk of losing control of the organisation.

Don't kid yourself
Then there is the matter of remoteness of elected members from the community. One feature of Local Government democracy is how available elected members are to the community. For instance I am in daily contact with people over many and varied issues and I assume so are many of my colleagues. In a super organisation, people like me will not be as readily accessible. These are obvious outcomes of reorganisation but the murky bits are where the costs come in unseen
Consultants had a very lucrative field day following 1989. Contractors too did very well. Maybe lessons have been learned but don't kid yourself that all problems will be solved. New problems will be created and what is needed is a review of the property- based rating system that provides funding for Local Government. That's where the real gains can be made.

Shuffling the pieces
The last Government investigation into rating showed that the present rating system is unsustainable. Tauranga's 10 year plan shows that up after Year 4. So just shuffling the pieces around the chess board only makes for different problems, solutions, winners and losers; as happened in 1989. If true reform is genuinely sought then it will take a Government with huge intestinal fortitude to alter the way Local Government is funded. And find reasons to make it work rather than reasons why it won't. Which has been a feature of past suggestions of removing the property based rating system and replacing it with a rate system where everyone contributes on an equal basis according to their ability to pay, not some trumped up assessment of property value as a basis of ability to pay. People's homes should be sacrosanct from the tax/rate collector – a man's home is his castle – and payment of all tax/rates should be income based. I mean, that's how they run the country, and your city should be no different.

Nervous ratepayers
Locally I note Ross Paterson, Western Bay's new Mayor, quoted as saying he would have concerns about Western Bay ratepayers picking up some responsibility for Tauranga's city debt. I agree with that and in the same way city ratepayers would be nervous taking on some 600-700 kilometres of unsealed rural roads.
A rural/urban mix of elected members might not return an effective democracy either. The two 'communities of interest” are a raft apart. So for my two bob's worth I'd leave Tauranga/Western Bay apart for the short/medium term but do away with EBOP, the regional council, and absorb the environmental functions into existing councils. Regional Councils didn't exist pre 1989, proving we can get along just fine without them. And of course we would get some of the divvy up of Port Company profits from the EBOP (gifted) shareholding to help fund infrastructure like roads, thereby relieving some ratepayer financial pressure.

Feet on the ground
On other fronts, I see in the media most people in Tauranga are happy. I've noticed it too. I'm not getting anywhere the number of concerned residents complaining about this and that. I've been particularly surprised by the lack of negative comment about the 10 year plan. I think this Council, a real grass roots Council, is representative of a wider cross section of our community than other Councils I have been on. The message I'm getting is that we are seen to be getting our feet on the ground (after years in the governance helicopter) and providing a mix of some rates increases coupled with a small reduction in services and knocking some major projects on the head – in the short term at least.

Well done for no hassle job
Brookfield traffic lights were fired up this week and are working very well. Just like Maungatapu/Welcome Bay. Well done to staff and contractors for a no hassle job and particularly to Helmut Marko of City Services, who oversaw the Brookfield project. And perhaps the naysayers will have the grace to retract their gloomy predictions. Not all that City Hall does is wrong!