Tax Cuts for Hardworking Horowhenua Families
I’ve been getting around our primary school pet days over the last few weeks. It takes me back to my days at Koputaroa School when I had a pet lamb or calf to look after and show. It was always touch and go whether my pet would follow nicely in the leading section or come to me when I called it off the leash. Often near perfect practice at home would result in shambles on competition day, with the distraction of different surrounds and noises. Good on all the children for having a go looking after their pets and thanks to Mum and Dad for providing the support and encouragement.
A big part of these pet days or school fairs is fundraising to meet any shortfalls in Ministry of Education (MOE) funding. It seems more and more funding needs to come from the community and parents are forced to sell cakes, raffles and sausage stalls. The most innovative I saw was a monster cake auction at Opiki School on Saturday.
As it has been pointed out by the Chronicle last week, these gaps in school funding have widened for most rural schools and closed for some urban schools. Information gained from last year’s Census is used to determine school funding (decile rating). The decile rating has nothing to do with school performance, but the lower the number between 1 and 10 the higher the amount of funding per student the school receives from the MOE. The thinking is families with children at higher decile schools can contribute more.
Locally, most schools dropped a decile place or two and overall the decile ratings are very low – indicating a generally low or poor socio-economic community. The new decile ratings are a clear indication that a lot of families in Levin are struggling financially. As one principal put it “take home pay packets are pathetic”.
One of the main reasons that pay packets are tight is the Labour Government’s high tax rates. As a general rule of thumb annual wage increases are about in line with inflation and this means that over time people move up into higher tax bands (called bracket creep). Labour hasn’t adjusted these tax bands in the past eight years and this year it also dropped its promised pathetic ‘chewing gum’ tax cuts.
The Government is awash with taxpayer’s money – with a surplus of about $8 billion this year. It is even more disappointing then that hard working Horowhenua families are struggling to make ends meet. Other factors making it tough on families are high interest rates, making home mortgage payments higher, increasing food and petrol prices, and rising rates and power bills.
With the Government languishing in the polls and desperate to stay in office, it has announced plans for tax cuts next year. This is despite years of saying tax cuts are unaffordable. Most of us know this is a cynical bribe in an election year.
National will deliver a comprehensive tax policy that will help to boost the pay packet of hard working Horowhenua families. Over time this will flow into our schools and help them in their efforts to provide the best possible learning opportunities for our children.
In the meantime, on Friday I wish all the children competing in the district calf and lamb finals day - all the best.