Hi Friend,

With the Budget out of the way, the team at the Taxpayers’ Union are turning their attention to their next major campaign.

As ratepayers, you and I know very well that our councils are broken. Unaccountable, secretive, and increasingly undemocratic with their unelected iwi and youth 'appointments' (with full pay and voting rights!) – enough is enough!

Voting papers in local body elections start hitting mailboxes in just over 100 days.

That means we have just 100 days to fix local government – but we need your support to fuel the campaign.

I'm just back from meeting the campaign team to review the campaign strategy. And let's just say, they've got some big plans!

While it's vital the Taxpayers' Union continue to snuff out and publicly expose wasteful council spending (and we all know there is plenty!) without democratic accountability and structural change to how local government works, nothing will change.

I'm asking for your support today, so the Taxpayers' Union can:

1. A nationwide "Rates Cap Now" campaign to force Simon Watts (the new Local Government Minister) not to cave into LGNZ's pressure.
   
   Without UK/Australian-style rates capping, 15 percent annual rates will be the norm.
   
   
2. Identify, promote, and hold to account candidates who stand for councils, sticking to the basic "three Rs": Roads, Rubbish, and Reticulation (i.e. water).
   
   The team want to build a comprehensive "how to vote" website.
   
   
3. Draft and promote a Ratepayer Bill of Rights Law to guarantee councils stick to the basics, do it well, and cannot screw the scrum with undemocratic appointments to influence decision making.
   
   We've even got an MP who says they're willing to sponsor it in Parliament. But we need the funds to instruct lawyers to draft the law.
   
   
4. Publish a 2025 edition of their renowned "Ratepayers' Report" council financial league tables.
   
   We know the Council bureaucrats hate these! They really expose the councils trying to pull the wool over local communities.

Unless we get behind this effort to fix councils , nothing will change.

Friend, if it weren't for the efforts of the Taxpayers' Union, New Zealand would have been lumped with Three Waters. We'd still have the 'ute tax'. Labour would have got away with their attempt to hike taxes on Kiwisaver. And we'd still be playing whale music to trees!!

My point is this: the Taxpayers' Union shifts the dial. But unless we get behind them so that they can tackle local government, we can't complain when nothing changes!

When the staff were giving me their presentation, I went onto the website and made a substantial donation because I am sick and tired of councils getting away with blue murder.

Will you join me in making a donation?

While local councils across the country are throwing money at the wall, they say there's no money for fixing potholes or upgrading pipes.

The Taxpayers' Union's role is to expose the truth and demonstrate where the money is really going (hint: it's not in roads and pipes, almost universally, the extra money has been ploughed into payroll – both an explosion in numbers and fat pay packets!).

But the Taxpayers' Union can’t hold Councils to account without your support today.

>> Support the Campaign <<

Thank you for your support.

Peter Williams Financial Supporter and Former Board Member New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union