Early Edition with Kate Hawkesby

This rates cap is popular politics, no doubt, and local government needs a good kick in the pants.  But does a 2-4% band simply mean we're going to pay more in other fees?  Rates aren't the only way these guys make money off us, we also pay for specific things like resource and building consents, LIM requests, dog registrations, and campgrounds.  Will hairdressers have to pay more to register under the Health Act? Yes, this is a thing, and in Kaipara, for example, it'll cost your business $423 bucks, thank you very much.  Will we pay more for a burial plot at the local cemetery? That's another fee.  Will we pay more to register out dogs?  The options are endless.  Waikato District Council has a document setting out the fees it whacks ratepayers with. It's 45 pages long. The government may take a revenue lever away from councils with one hand, but councils will no doubt get creative and hit us up from another angle.  Actually, this is exactly what the Government itself h