Public Running Out of Time with Mayor’s Big Budget

Auckland Mayor Len Brown is keen to push his massive 10-year budget onto the books with limited input from Auckland ratepayers, claims Auckland Councillor Cameron Brewer.

“This is most important budget in Auckland’s history, yet most Aucklanders don’t even know about it let alone that submissions close this Friday. The Mayor’s big budget has largely flown under the radar so not to scare the horses, but that’s not fair on ratepayers who will be expected to foot the bills,” says Mr Brewer.

Public submissions on Auckland Council’s draft Long Term Plan 2012–2022 close at 4pm, Friday 23 March, with the full document and submission forms available on www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz

“This plan proposes that nearly 200,000 Auckland households receive a 10% rates increase from July, that ratepayers commit to the $2.86 billion City Rail Link project without any Government commitment, that council debt skyrockets from $2.9b to $8.4b, that nearly half a billion is spent on further improving the CBD and waterfront, that dog registration costs soar overnight, that tolls be possibly applied to Auckland’s existing motorway network, that user-pays rubbish collections become universal, and that residential rates increase on average at 4.9% percent every year for the coming decade.”

Mr Brewer says while the Mayor calls his 10-year budget “transformational,” for many householders it will simply make Auckland much less affordable. He says the Mayor’s big spending and debt plans do not deliver on the promises of local government amalgamation the public were given.

“The Mayor’s whole new rating policy creates huge inequities with many of his supporters in the West and South set to get substantial rate reductions, while areas like mine in the Eastern suburbs face huge increases.”

The Councillor for Orakei says official figures confirm that 87.8% of properties in the Orakei ward are set to pay the full 10% rates increase cap from July. He says the Mayor’s latest push to cap rate increases at 10% in the 2012/13 financial year is a cynical ploy that won’t lessen any political backlash.

“The most effective way to iron out the rating inequities is to introduce a higher Uniform Annual General Charge. Finance staff last October reported that ‘a UAGC of $450 will result in the least overall change in rates over all income levels’. Sadly, the Mayor went against this advice, and politically announced a $350 UAGC – which nails higher-valued areas like Orakei which is now looking at an average residential rate increase of over 13%.”

In November Councillor George Wood and Mr Brewer put up an amendment proposing a $550 UAGC but that was lost 6 votes to 14. He said ratepayers in high-valued properties should call for a higher UAGC in their submissions on the Long Term Plan.

“The few that have read the budget document believe the Mayor is just going too big and too fast with all his promises which are set to cost ratepayers dearly. The best way to slow him down is to make a submission on the draft Long Term Plan by the close of this week. That will enable councillors to make some changes before we finalise it at the end of June,” says Cameron Brewer.

ENDS

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