And many are also facing some significant rises in their rates bills this year.
Whether it’s rent, groceries, insurance or rates, people are feeling the pressure and asking a fair question: is this normal, and what can council do about it?
The answer is parts of it are normal, and parts of it are not.
Inflation has pushed up prices for essentials, and while that pressure has been starting to ease, it hasn’t disappeared.
Councils across the country are also dealing with higher costs around construction, insurance, borrowing, and that is flowing through into rates.
But Queenstown-Lakes is different. We are one of the least affordable districts in the country.
House prices are significantly higher than average.
Rents are higher. Everyday costs, from trades to transport, are above what you’d pay elsewhere.
And unlike many parts of New Zealand, we face a unique combination of pressures — rapid population growth, a strong tourism economy, and demand for holiday homes from outside the district.
That means what residents are experiencing isn’t just a temporary spike in prices.
It’s a structural affordability challenge that has been building for years.
Obviously the council doesn’t control house prices, supermarket costs or interest rates, but that doesn’t mean we can ignore the impact of our own decisions.
Rates and council charges are only one part of a household budget, but they are one of the few parts that are set locally.
They are also unavoidable.
That means we have a responsibility to ensure they are fair, transparent and represent good value.
In a place like Queenstown-Lakes, that responsibility is even greater.
Many of the people carrying the cost of living — workers, renters and families — are not the same people who have benefited from rising property values.
If we’re not careful, we risk compounding that imbalance.
So what can we do?
First, we need to focus on value for money.
Every dollar we spend is a dollar that comes from our community.
That means stronger oversight of procurement, better project delivery, and making sure we are not paying more than we need to, or on things that we don’t have to if we can’t afford them.
Getting this right won’t solve the affordability crisis on its own, but getting it wrong will make it worse.
So far we have shaved over $8 million off the proposed budget for the coming year, but I believe we need to increase that figure.
Second, we need to think carefully about how and when we charge.
Large, sudden increases can create real hardship, even when they are justified.
Smoothing charges over time and being deliberate about the timing of new charges can make a meaningful difference to households.
Councillors will need to consider how we might do that in areas where we have spent tens of millions on infrastructure that’s only currently serving a small number of residents.
Third, we need to keep a close eye on fairness.
In a district with a large visitor economy and significant non-resident ownership, there is a legitimate question about whether costs are being shared appropriately.
That doesn’t mean simple answers, but it does mean we should be asking the question openly.
And we will do that as we hold a review this year around how we share those costs.
Finally, we need to be honest about trade-offs. Lower rates don’t come from nowhere.
They mean less spending, more debt or delaying investment in infrastructure that we know we need.
Our job is to make those choices carefully, explain them clearly and bring the community with us.
Council cannot fix the cost of living on its own. But we can make sure we are not adding to the problem, and that where we do ask people to contribute, it is fair, transparent and delivers real value.
Many of the councillors who were elected last year talked about the need to focus on our finances.
Six months on, it’s time to walk the talk.
John Glover is Queenstown’s mayor
