17 December 2024
Media: Local Democracy Reporter
Topic: Waste levies
Enquiry
Reporter sought comment from Mayor Tapsell after receiving comment from the Minister for the Environment in response to a letter from the Mayor regarding waste levies, a matter which was raised during the Infrastructure and Environment Committee meeting earlier this month:
Reporter had sought comment from the Minister for the Environment as follows:
I am doing a story on the potential changes to the waste act and have the below for response. May I please ask it also be forward the press secs for the finance, infrastructure and environment ministers for their consideration? And can I please be provided with an up-to-date press sec list? Much appreciated. Will have a couple q's too.
If I can please have a response by 2.30pm that would be magic, thank you very much.
- Is any of the below inaccurate in any way and how so?
- What specifically was the treasury advice and its rationale?
- What of this advice will be implemented and when?
- Will there be a full and open review as Tapsell has asked for, and when?
- Will there be any changes to the act outside of a review and when? What are they?
- Any other relevant information or comment?
Rotorua mayor Tania Tapsell, in a December 3 letter to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and other ministers, said potential changes to the Waste Minimisation Act will compromise councils’ ability to fulfil responsibilities.
Under treasury advice to the Government, councils would receive 75% less of a waste levy. In Rotorua this would be about $1.2million of funding, the equivalent of a 1% rates increase to keep providing waste services.
Local Government New Zealand also signalled its concern at the potential.
President Sam Broughton said councils constantly balanced the long-term interests of their ratepayers against their financial sustainability and are having to go line by line through their accounts to find savings.
“Unfortunately, the stream of unfunded rules and responsibilities imposed by successive governments makes achieving this balance even more difficult – and costs councils millions every year,” Broughton said.
Broughton said it wanted a commitment from the finance minister that she will not de-hypothecate the waste levy funding and will maintain the 50/50 split that the Government committed to in the 2024 budget.
At an infrastructure and environment committee meeting earlier in the month, infrastructure and assets group manager Stavros Michael said treasury advised the Government the levy money should instead be used “as they see fit”.
A loss of $1.2m would mean it may have to halt recycling services.
Michael said local authorities were trying to “raise the alarm” on the issue.
Tapsell, in her letter, said changes were “pushed through under Budget urgency”.
She said councils had a critical role in waste management, from collection, disposal, management and waste recovery.
“Any reduction in support through the [Waste Disposal] levy is a serious threat to our operations, so please don’t make changes without a review and consultation so you understand fully the consequences.”
Tapsell’s letter said she and her peers were “deeply troubled” by the push to de-hypothecate the levy.
“The levy cannot be seen as another revenue stream for the Government as it plays a crucial role as a dedicated fund meant to support waste minimisation.”
The decision to amend the act without consultation or input from those in waste management was “not a good precedent” and she urged an open and accountable decision-making process moving forward.
Councils used the funding to fund essential services as well as sanitary services to keep communities safe, she said.
Rotorua’s landfill was capped and waste is transported out of the district.
“To be blunt, cuts to levy funding will ultimately land on ratepayers or result in cuts to the services like these that they rely on.”
She said a “proper review” of the act was long-awaited and expected initiatives that would “shift some of the responsibility for waste management and minimisation from councils to producers and consumers”.
Tapsell asked for a full and open review of the act and levy settings, including consultation and a select committee process, and that no changes be made to the act outside of the review.
“We need a solid commitment from the Government to handle these changes with the transparency and integrity that New Zealanders expect and deserve.
“Anything less would be a disservice to all of us.”
She has not received a response.
Reporter received the following response from the Minister for the Environment:
Confirming that a copy of the letter has been received at the office of Hon Penny Simmonds.
Please see the statement below in response to your second question.
Statement from Hon Penny Simmonds, Minister for the Environment
“I acknowledge the concerns raised about the changes to the waste disposal levy made during Budget 2024 in May, and the prospect of further amendments to the Waste Minimisation Act 2008. I can confirm there is no current proposal to change the local government allocation of the levy. I intend that councils will still receive 50 per cent of the funds raised through the levy, as they do now.
“The changes that came into effect on 1 July 2024 through amendments to the Waste Minimisation Act mean that waste disposal levy rates will increase incrementally over the next four years. This means the territorial authority share of the levy will increase as these increases take place.
“I intend to reform the Waste Minimisation Act and Litter Act 1979 to ensure New Zealand has fit-for-purpose, modern waste legislation that gives us more options and flexibility to reduce and manage waste effectively and efficiently. Ministry for the Environment officials are reviewing these Acts and advising me on policy proposals. The objective is to have new waste legislation in place before the election.
“Queries about Treasury advice should be directed to the Treasury.”
Response
Mayor Tapsell spoke with the reporter by phone and also provided the following additional comments:
What does the 50% currently go to: “An example of where the Governments portion (50%) of funding goes towards locally will be schemes like food and organic waste collection, $1.5 million has been tagged to this scheme which would help with setting up the service like purchasing the bins. Also, services like waste minimisation education programmes for the community. If funds became more difficult in future, projects like this may not be eligible for extra funding from the Government to help reduce the overall costs.
How does it impact current recycling services: “I’m really pleased the Minister for Environment has confirmed Councils portion of funding will remain the same. But it isn’t clear where Governments portion of this levy (50%) will go to, and Councils currently apply to that to help to reduce the overall cost of our schemes such as recycling. Councils plan out our spending and services over a number of years. A key concern is that if Governments focus for this funding changes we already have contracts we have committed to, such as food and organics waste collection, that can’t change halfway through. This means we will still be committed to delivering these contracts for services, but at an unexpectedly higher cost to ratepayers then we planned for.
General comments:
We are still worried that the total amount Councils receive needs to remain the same that we’d planned for.
The current way the levy is collected and distributed is based on district population. It’s unclear what changes to this will be so we’d really appreciate more information soon of how they intend to support us and our communities by guaranteeing that the funding overall does not reduce.
The changes of funds being able to towards reducing environmental harm or increase environmental benefits is very broad. Many Councils and staff within our sector believe Government allocation of funds must be spent on continuing to reduce waste, as they’re collected by those disposing of waste it should remain focused on reducing waste generation. This is important as over time Government intends to continue to increase costs for creating and disposing of waste in line with New Zealands commitment to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
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Media: Radio NZ
Topic: Decision from contracted emergency housing hearings
Enquiry
I was actually just wondering where the emergency housing process was at after the hearings in November?
Has there been an outcome yet? Apologies if there has and I’ve missed it.
Response
The reporter was informed the Commissioner has deferred his decision until the new year.
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Media: Rotorua Daily Post
Topic: Mayor's wishes for 2025
Enquiry
I'm hoping to include Tania in a regional wrap we are doing for the newspapers of ‘New Year’s wishes from city leaders’ if she could send 150 words for a news wish for Rotorua
Response
From Rotorua Mayor, Tania Tapsell:
“We send a heartfelt thanks to everyone in our Rotorua community. We’re inspired by the dedication, hard work, and courage of the people who continually make Rotorua a better place for all.
“2024 highlights included improving community safety, reducing emergency housing motels by 74%, rebuilding our reputation as a top tourism town, improving business confidence, and getting meaningful community projects underway like restoring our iconic Museum building.
“Next year we’ll see the end of emergency housing motels in Rotorua and will be delivering more locally-led housing solutions. Council will also be focused on supporting our local economy and strengthening our status as a world-class destination.
“We should be proud of this beautiful place we call home and the progress our community has made together. We look forward to building on this in 2025 and wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season.”
