> download Submission to the Local Government Funding Review (PDF, 330KB)
The Salvation Army is also a member of the Inter Church Working Party on Taxation (ICWPT) with most other Christian churches in New Zealand. This group is also making a comprehensive and robust submission to this Funding Review. The Salvation Army fully endorses and supports the arguments and conclusions the ICWPT has made in their submission. Our intention is that this Salvation Army submission will complement the substantial work of this group.
The Salvation Army does not agree with or support the discussions in Part 6.3 of the Funding Review Document that discuss Statutory Ratings Exemptions. In particular, The Salvation Army strongly opposes the rationale in Part 6.3.3 that talks about the ratings exemption that The Salvation Army and other churches are legally entitled to being a ‘subsidy’ that is ‘imposed upon communities’. We do acknowledge that, as this Funding Review paper accurately sets out, funding the services provided by local bodies in the future is a major issue requiring changes to local and central government policies. But we cannot support redistributing a local body’s revenue stream via removing ratings exemptions for organisations providing religious and charitable services. The Salvation Army strongly contends that there are numerous policy and social justifications for the existence of this ratings exemption for churches.