The Finance and Expenditure Committee is calling for
submissions on the Local Government (Rates Capping)
Amendment Bill.
The committee has not set a closing
date for submissions. The submission portal will remain
active throughout the 2026 General Election period (the
“interregnum”), until a new Finance and Expenditure
Committee is convened in the next Parliamentary term and
decides to close submissions. Any documents uploaded to the
submission portal during the interregnum will be held by the
Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives and
provided to that Committee.
However, the current
Finance and Expenditure committee encourages the public to
share their views by 1 December 2026, so
that submissions can be processed and ready for the next
Parliament as soon as one is formed.
About the
bill
The bill aims to limit annual increases of
council rates to promote local authority fiscal
responsibility and provide predictability of costs to rate
payers. Rates relating to water services (drinking water,
wastewater, and stormwater) are excluded and regulated under
separate legislation.
It would do this
by:
- introducing a minimum and maximum amount that
non-water-related rates can be increased by. The first
target range would be set at 2–4 percent. Future target
ranges would be set by Order in
Council. - establishing a regulatory function within
the Ministry for Cities, Environment, Regions and Transport
to ensure council compliance with the target
range - providing exemption mechanisms that would
allow councils to operate outside of the target range in
specific circumstances.
What do you need to
know?
- The Governor-General will dissolve the
54th Parliament will on 1 October 2026 ahead of the 2026
General Election. Documents received after 1 October will be
held by the Office of the Clerk and provided to the Finance
and Expenditure Committee of the 55th Parliament for their
consideration. - Submissions are publicly released and
published to the Parliament website. Only your name or
organisation’s name is required on a submission. Please
keep your contact details separate, as if they are included
on the submission they will become publicly available when
the submission is released. - If you wish to include
information of a private or personal nature in your
submission you should discuss this with the clerk of the
committee before submitting. - If you wish to also
request an oral submission, please state this
clearly.
Tell the Finance and Expenditure
Committee what you think
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Make
a submission on the bill.
For more details about
the bill:
