These related reports informed the New Zealand Productivity Commission's inquiry Local government funding and financing. The reports cover:
- whether legislation governing local authority rates should be amended to allow councils more easily to capture the benefits of growth through a rating system whereby taxes on property would increase in line with increasing property values.
- an assessment of the current use of rating tools by Councils, along with a comparison of previous analyses undertaken for the earlier 2007 inquiry.
- reviewing changes to the development contributions (DC) policies of four high-growth Councils following the LGA amendments in 2014. The areas studied are Auckland, Hamilton, Queenstown, and Tauranga. Briefly analyses how the DC revenues of these four areas has tracked over time, particularly in relation to total operating incomes and key measures of growth, such as population changes and building consents. Contrasts and compares DCs with infrastructure growth charges (IGCs), which are levied in Auckland by Watercare in lieu of DCs for water and wastewater.
Click here to see the final report.