A Central Otago district councillor has spoken out saying she will be among those who cannot afford to pay her rates bill this year.

Mother of four Sarah Browne told the Central Otago District Council yesterday she’s had to have the hard conversation with her children recently, that she’d need to pause her KiwiSaver contributions in order to cover the shortfall the rates rise presents.

After listening to concerns from pensioners who spoke at the meeting, she too said she was “terrified” about what the rates increases of 18-30% meant for her family, “and hand on heart I probably can’t do it.”

But, she told the council that it didn’t mean the rates shouldn’t be increased, “because what else can we do?”

Cr Tamah Alley reiterated that it wasn’t just about pensioners, with some parents working multiple jobs, as well as young people in the community supporting their families while still at high school.

She said many of these young people will never own a home or get a pension.

“If we are continually being asked to cut our cloth to fit, it’s very difficult when the design materials and the timeframe for completion is being specified by local government.”

Deputy Mayor Neil Gillespie pointed out that while the community was great at telling them what they did want, through the Annual Plan process, “we don’t hear much from people about what they don’t want us to do.”

“It affects us all differently and for those who struggle we are all resilient and we’ll help each other . . . but it’s not an easy decision to make.”

Mayor Tim Cadogan said he took exception to comments from Grey Power that the council didn’t care, and thanked staff and councillors for all of their hard work on the Annual Plan.

Describing the rates increases as a “hideous problem,” the council voted to set the proposed rates increase of 18% (average) for the year.

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