Description: l
auckland (1026) super city (5) len brown (1)
Last week Auckland Council published its pre-election report. It has chapter titles worthy of a George Lucas blockbuster (such as “the journey so far”), a hero coming of age (Auckland) and a nasty villain who is far more sinister than Darth Vader. No, it’s not Hamilton, or even out-of-control house prices, but rather the Council’s out-of-control debt.
A long time ago (2012) a council far far away (most of the same councillors we have today) thought that the absolute most debt that our fine city could possibly borrow would be 175% of its total revenue. Today debt is already 203% of total revenue and increasing - so for every dollar the council collects from rates, public transport, rubbish collection or even library fees it owes $2.03.
This is creating a huge liability for future generations of Aucklanders. Already interest costs eat up 20% of all the property rates the city collects. This means that one fifth of the budget isn’t spent on transport, housing, parks or other services that the city desperately needs.