Opinion: Invercargill deserves the truth

If this were about political positioning, staying quiet would be the easiest option. But I refuse to stand by while empty promises are sold to the people of this city. Invercargill deserves better than spin. It deserves the truth.

Everywhere I go people tell me the same thing: the cost of living is out of control. Bills are piling up, groceries cost more and now rates are rising too. I understand that frustration. I feel it too. No one - least of all me - wants rates to go up more than necessary.

That’s why I need to be absolutely honest about what’s in front of us, because the numbers being thrown around don’t add up.

The Mayor’s plan to force rates down to 3.9% sounds great, until you look at the details. What’s not being said is that 5.8% of this increase isn’t up for debate. It comes straight from government changes, mostly locked into Local Water Done Well legislation. That means the part council actually controls is just 3.67% - already under the Mayor’s own 3.9% target.

So where does that leave us? If we try to push rates even lower, we’re not just tightening the belt; we’re rolling back services and putting our city 5.47% in the hole relative to last year’s rate increase. That means something has to go.

What do we close? Do we shorten library hours? Cut community funding more? Reduce maintenance on footpaths and roading, or on our public spaces? These aren’t hypotheticals. They are the real-world consequences of an impossible promise.

The Mayor’s plan depends on cutting staff and contractor costs while somehow keeping the same level of service. But who is left to do the work? We already have a hiring freeze unless a role is absolutely essential. You can’t cut something that’s already stopped. And if we slash contractor budgets, that work doesn’t disappear - it just gets dumped onto fewer people. That means delays, health and safety risks, mistakes and higher costs down the track when we have to fix the damage.

We’re also building a new museum. Who’s supposed to run it - ghosts? You can’t cut off the hand of an organisation and still expect to write a novel with it.

The Mayor is also pointing to asset sales, like Donovan Park farmland as a solution. But that’s already accounted for in the Long-Term Plan. We can’t sell it twice.

Then there’s the proposal to increase fees by 10% on things like dog licenses, Splash Palace entry and consenting costs. That’s not saving ratepayers money. It’s just shifting the burden elsewhere. Families will pay more to take their kids for a swim. Everyone will pay more for consents. Everyday costs will creep up in the background. This isn’t a solution - it’s just moving money around and calling it a win.

A key part of the Mayor’s plan includes revenue from SIT-built housing, projected to generate $500,000 per year. However, this has not been formally assessed by Council. Annual Plans should focus on actionable projects with clear financial backing, not speculative figures that lack proper evaluation.

Meanwhile, council faces the same cost pressures as every household. Insurance alone has gone up 1.53%, adding to our rates burden. Every homeowner who’s had to renew their policy recently knows what that feels like. The cost of materials and services is rising, just like it is for businesses and families. We don’t get to pretend these pressures don’t exist.

But what hurts the most is that the Mayor had full sight of this process. He led it. We signed off on a Long-Term Plan last year that projected an 8.5% increase. He knew the pressures on rates. He worked alongside us to keep them as low as possible. And now, suddenly, he’s claiming the number we approved is unacceptable? That’s not leadership. That’s a backtrack dressed up as heroism. If 3.9% was possible, why didn’t he fight for it last year?

This situation was avoidable. The Mayor was responsible for leading this process from the front -both during the Long-Term Plan and the Annual Plan. If leadership had driven a structured conversation earlier, we could have consulted on different service level options to manage rates proactively. Instead, we’re now backed into a corner, being asked to make cuts without a real plan. That’s not leadership. That’s reactive politics and Invercargill deserves better.

The Mayor has publicly stated that he doesn’t support the decision to cut Great South and Stadium Southland funding - but if that’s the case, why was the decision left unopposed by Council on February 25? You can’t approve a decision in the Council chamber and then disown it in public. That’s not how responsible governance works.

This isn’t about politics. It’s about honesty.

We’re all being hung out to dry by this sudden change in narrative. No one on Council wants rates to go up. We’ve spent months looking for every possible way to soften the blow. But if we’re going to have a real conversation, we need to stop pretending we can have the same services for less money.

And worst of all, it’s dehumanising. In hard economic times, people rely more on community services, not less. This isn’t just about numbers on a page - it’s about real people, real services and real consequences.