Cr Aleisha Rutherford said maintaining services alone would need a 1 per cent rise. “The rates we have set are fair. There’s [a] huge level of investment in areas that affect vulnerable members of the community.” Mayor Grant Smith said the council kept rates artificially low last year during Covid-19 to support the community. “Nobody likes to raise rates, it’s a very unpopular decision, but sometimes you need to pay the piper. “The city is growing and we’re not the same as we were a year ago.” He said the council needed to maintain its infrastructure spending, otherwise there would be burst pipes, potholed roads, groups with no funding and the community would be much poorer.
Public get their say over extension to paid parking hours
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Palmerston North rates rise likely to be set at 8 2 per cent
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