NoMoreRates
THE NATIONWIDE CAMPAIGN TO REPLACE THE PRESENT SYSTEM OF COUNCIL RATES WITH A FAIRER SYSTEM WHICH REFLECTS ABILITY TO
PAY AND VALUE FOR MONEY.
Audit Office Is Watching Stadium Funding Closely.
Councils Should Accept Ratepayers Concerns And Tell Government It Must Pay For Eden Park And Not Ratepayers.
As ratepayers wait anxiously to hear how the Eden Park upgrade is to be funded the Auditor-General’s Office has
indictated to NoMoreRates that it will be watching for any legal implications if rates funding is involved.
NoMoreRates asked the Auditor-General if the Minister could force any local authority to use rates to fund Eden Park
upgrade – or any other stadium.
The response from the Audit Office was;-
You ask us to comment on the ability of the Minister to require a rate to be set, short of enabling legislation. It does
not appear clear to us that the Minister intends to or would actually ‘force’ a Council to rate. Rather we presume the
funding would be a matter of negotiation for the respective parties to pursue within their legal ability once agreement
over funding has been reached.
How any resultant negotiation is finalised and enacted will be closely watched with interest by the Office.
NoMoreRates raised the issue with the Audit Office in order to show local councils that they did not have to commit rate
funding to the stadium upgrade if their ratepayers opposed such a move.
David Thornton said today, ‘This response from the Audit Office should put some backbone into those councils who seem
unwilling to tell the Government that it should be paying for Eden Park and not the ratepayers of the Auckland region’.
ends