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Speaker 1: Labor is considering changing the law to force government buildings

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Speaker 1: to pay rates to city councils. This is obviously if

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Speaker 1: they win the November election. At the moment, none of

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Speaker 1: the government buildings, Parliament, schools, hospitals pay any rates. Wellington

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Speaker 1: has been agitating for this to change. In the mayor

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Speaker 1: is Andrew Little Hi Andrew, how much would it bring

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Speaker 1: in for Wellington City Council for.

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Speaker 2: Willington look, depending on whether they pay the residential rate

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Speaker 2: or the commercial rate, could be anywhere between five million

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Speaker 2: dollars and nearly seventeen million dollars. And they'll probably be

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Speaker 2: a mix of residential, commercial, or possibly a special rate.

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Speaker 2: But the gains would be significant for a council of

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Speaker 2: our size.

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Speaker 1: Why wouldn't you just check them all on commercial rates

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Speaker 1: if they are in the commercial precinct.

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Speaker 2: If some are in residentially. If you think about schools

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Speaker 2: they used for what forty weeks a year type of

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Speaker 2: thing and residential areas, so you could justify something there.

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Speaker 2: Many of the other buildings are in the city areas,

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Speaker 2: so commercial rates might be justified. I think the point

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Speaker 2: is that there's a lot of infrastructure that we're providing

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Speaker 2: to crownd known buildings that that are not paying their way.

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Speaker 1: Is it a point of frustration for you?

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Speaker 2: Oh, when when you look at the value that it represents.

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Speaker 2: You know, we're in the process of doing the work

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Speaker 2: to set our budget. We're trying to cut as much

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Speaker 2: cost out of the budget and find other sources of revenue.

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Speaker 2: There ain't much other sources of revenue, so we're all

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Speaker 2: sort of cost cutting that is sensitive. But if we

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Speaker 2: can find other sources of revenue, that stuff makes a difference.

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Speaker 2: So what it ends up doing is bringing down rates

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Speaker 2: for everybody.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, well, I was going to ask, is this would

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Speaker 1: you use it to pay down debt or would you

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Speaker 1: actually drop the rates increases for residents.

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Speaker 2: To go towards keeping the rates increase levels as low

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Speaker 2: as possible. Think so everybody gets to share the benefit

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Speaker 2: of it.

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Speaker 1: Okay, Now, I see the Labor Party is considering this

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Speaker 1: is a serious thing.

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Speaker 2: As far as I know. I saw saw the spokesperson

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Speaker 2: telling you particularly saying that that. I understand they're doing

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Speaker 2: their policy development because they keep telling us that they

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Speaker 2: will have announcement soon. But good on them if they are.

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Speaker 2: I think this is something that should be considered. I'm

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Speaker 2: not the only mea saying this. There are the other

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Speaker 2: mes saying this as indeed they have been for many years.

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Speaker 2: I just think it's a question we have to step

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Speaker 2: up to. I don't think councils can go much longer

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Speaker 2: caring the cost of infrastructure for these Crown buildings without

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Speaker 2: getting something back for it.

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Speaker 1: Have you raised it with the current government and what

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Speaker 1: have they said.

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Speaker 2: I haven't had a discussion with them about it, but

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Speaker 2: it will no doubt came up in future discussions.

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Speaker 1: Andrew, thank you very much in bestive luck with that.

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Speaker 1: That's Andrew Little, Wellington City Met. For more from Hither

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Speaker 1: Duplessy Alan Drive, listen live to news talks. It'd be

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