Rates are about to go up even further now with the Government pushing local councils under a borrowing bus.

“The Minister’s language is crystal clear, the Government’s intention is to push costs and all responsibility back onto councils. They’re washing their hands of this issue and setting councils up to take all blame on the inevitable increase in rates,” Labour local government spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said.

“Increasing debt limits mean councils will go further into debt, passing costs on to ratepayers without the help of the Government.

“Today the Government has turned a blind eye to the issue of credit ratings. We know agencies stated that without balance sheet separation it would be difficult to maintain the required credit rating. It appears the Government are working on their own analysis, that conveniently disregards the feedback of their own credit agencies.

“I think the most telling thing is the admission that they think it won’t cost as much, ignoring the $185 billion price tag that came from figures provided by the councils themselves.

“Just take a look at the language Simeon Brown is using. By putting all responsibility on to councils he is setting things up so that when rates inevitably rise, he and the Government can say it’s the council’s fault.

“This is a political solution to save face, but one that slams rate rises into the face of ratepayers. ,” Kieran McAnulty said.