Policies

Compare the parties’ positions on the key issues this election. Explore their policies and see how closely they align with your own views and priorities.

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Rates and revenue

The work of local government is funded mainly by property taxes in the local area, known as rates. This makes up around 60% of council expenditure, with the rest coming from user charges, investment income, regulatory fees and roading subsidies. Councils can also borrow money to spread the cost of large investments such as infrastructure over a longer period of time.

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  • Explore financial partnerships with central government to secure funding for local community projects.

  • Investigate public dashboards for council spending and project progress to increase transparency and accountability.

  • Prioritise major projects to ensure essentials like water infrastructure, climate resilience and community safety come first.

  • Avoid empty promises on rates cuts as there is no magic money tree; agree on what is needed to keep Kāpiti thriving and stop spending on other areas.

  • Show leadership in tough times by having elected members take a 20% pay cut and return the extra to ratepayers and the community.

  • Reject a rate-capping bureaucrat closing pools and libraries, reduce government interference in local democracy and remove GST from rates.

  • Audit individual business unit budgets to ensure operational activity matches council governance policy and expectations.

  • Identify core services to prioritise those areas.

  • Return to the view of council as a public service organisation rather than a private corporation to avoid corporate-style excess.

Get across the policies, candidates and parties

Don’t know who to vote for? Policy.nz is the complete guide to the 2025 local elections. Compare the candidates and policies to see where you stand.

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