Mayors hail National's IVL funding pledge - but still eye bed taxes

Auckland mayor Wayne Brown says National's alternative to a bed tax is a step in the right direction - but not a long-term solution.Brown last month said National was "panicking" and called the party's stated reason for pulling out of a commitment to consider the levy "nonsense".The commitment had been part of the regional deal Prime Minister Christopher Luxon signed with Auckland, but when he bowed to pressure from the Taxpayers Union to rule out introducing any new taxes he said the party would come up with other ways of helping councils fund tourism infrastructure.That policy announced by Luxon, Tourism Minister Louise Upston, and Finance Minister Nicola Willis on Tuesday would redistribute the International Visitor Levy tourists pay at the border.Instead of going into government baselines, they announced $100 million a year would go to the Department of Conservation, $50m to tourism projects, and the rest to councils.This would also be topped up with more than $105m taken from future operating allowances.National had originally campaigned against the levy, but this term has raised the fee from $35 to $100, and changed some rules to allow revenue generated to be used for broader Crown funding so long as it was used in tourism or conservation portfolios.The policy was announced on Tuesday.RNZ/Nick MonroIn the first year, the new policy was estimated to mean more than $19m for Auckland - but mayor Wayne Brown said that was still $8m short of the $27m the council estimated a bed tax would provide."This National Party announcement is a step in the right direction, but we are still around $8 million short, and it's not yet a long-term solution."This will still leave future of some events like the ASB Classic, All Blacks tests, State of Origin, SailGP and the Writer's Festival at risk."The bed-night levy is a fair user charge that would mean visitors, rather than Auckland ratepayers, contribute a few dollars towards tourism-related infrastructure and services while they're here."Brown said that under the Auckland deal, "central government has an obligation to explore a dedicated bed-night levy" which would build an enduring, stable solution not dependent on the government's annual budget cycles."Watch out for our formal announcement tomorrow."He also questioned Australians' exemption from the IVL, saying that was "for some reason ... and they send us their 501s".Central Otago mayor Tamah Alley said the council also welcomed the acknowledgement that New Zealanders were already paying for tourism costs through rates, which was "not sustainable, and it's not fair".Central Otago mayor Tamah Alley.SuppliedShe said National's policy would "probably not" provide significant funding for the district, where many of the tourists were domestic travellers, but like Brown said it was a "great step in the right direction"."It's not going to be the same as the likes of a Queenstown or an Auckland that have higher numbers of internationals coming through."She said they were still supportive of looking at a nationwide bed tax as part of their own regional deal, but primarily needed some kind of mechanism for tourists to contribute."Something that's implemented at a national level is always going to be more appropriate, I think, than something that's bespoke to individual communities - so I think it is definitely a step in the right direction, and we just need to ensure that the parameters around how it's spent are going to match what our communities need."Gisborne mayor and LGNZ President Rehette Stoltz had a similar stance."We welcome the announcement ... it will make a real difference for councils who, at this stage a significant portion of the income comes from rates from their local communities."The devil will be in the details, but at this stage, the numbers we are seeing is really promising."She said LGNZ would continue talking about "other funding tools that will also support local communities in making sure that we have the revenue available to build the infrastructure that our communities demand"."It's a great step in the right direction ... we'll keep having discussions moving forward in other ways, how we can support councils and ultimately ratepayers."'The two policies are the same' - SeymourDavid Seymour is celebrating the National Party 'joining the no new taxes party' with the announcement of their International Visitor Levy.The ACT Party leader spoke to media in Auckland, saying it was only a few months ago they had been arguing over the bed tax in Budget 2026."Now, they say they don't want a bed tax either, and they also want a policy suspiciously similar to the Local Tourism Dividend that ACT released only a couple of weeks ago," he said.Seymour announced the Local Tourism Dividend last month as his party's alternative to the bed-tax, believing it was a smarter option, which would charge guests a small percentage on top of their short term hotels and B&B stays.He estimated the dividend would give councils more than $40 million annually, based on 2026 guest night figures.On Tuesday, Seymour said the levy for international visitors had already been spent."You're either going to cut something out of the International Visitor Levy that's already spent, or top it up from other sources of revenue," he said."That makes it indistinguishable from ACT's policy which says 'we will need to make savings elsewhere across the whole government budget to fund a local tourism dividend', once you recognise that, the two policies are the same."Seymour said he would be publishing a fully costed alternative budget before the election.He said National would still need to explain what they would cut elsewhere or within the levy to fund the policy."You have to have an answer to that question."