Northland-based children's author Lucas Remmerswaal has a good line on borrowing: "Debt is a four letter word and means a four word sentence - Be Prepared for Trouble."
Remmerswaal's words were originally written as a warning for young people in need of financial guidance but they are an equally poignant message for Hawke's Bay ratepayers.
In our case, the "trouble" that comes with a regional debate over council debt doesn't necessarily imply the region has financial problems - it's more about trouble in the sense of political agitation.
Napier Mayor Bill Dalton started the battle of the balance sheets last week when he lobbed a detailed data table into the public arena comparing the debt levels of his council and neighbouring Hastings District.
Mr Dalton's spreadsheet offensive sparked what has been just the latest skirmish in a much bigger, long-running fight: the battle over amalgamation.
Debt is a key issue in the debate about whether Hawke's Bay's five councils should merge into a single region-wide local authority - a move currently under consideration by the Local Government Commission.
Anti-amalgamationists say uniting the councils would be unfair because, in the case of the region's two largest territorial authorities, it would mean residents in Napier picking up responsibility for servicing and repaying the much greater debts that is on the books in Hastings.
Those on the other side of the debate say the debt issue is a red herring because measures could be put in place to "ring-fence" existing debts so they remain the responsibility of residents living in the areas where they were incurred. No one denies Hastings District Council has more debt than Napier City. The debate is around how large the difference is.
Since Mr Dalton dispatched his comparison table, the words "apples" and "oranges" have been used quite regularly in the debate over how to quantify respective council debt across the fruit bowl province.
The comparison complexities come down to issues around differing accounting practices, including treatment of what is known as "internal borrowing" where the councils use their own money to fund projects and services rather than taking loans from the bank.
Napier City Council charges interest on its internal borrowing whereas Hastings District Council has done in the past but currently does not.
Larry Mitchell, a chartered accountant who works as a public sector finance and policy consultant, says with councils having different policies for how they treat and charge for internal borrowings, any attempt to compare debts between authorities "gets pretty labyrinthine".
Speaking in general terms, and not referring specifically to councils in Hawke's Bay, he says: "Even the term internal borrowing is a terrible non-accounting term - a misnomer - and can be used to basically be an excuse for all sorts of financial finagling."
There are legitimate reasons why councils have chosen different ways to report and account for debt. Without commenting on the merits of the different approaches taken by Napier and Hastings, Mr Mitchell says: "They are councils of quite a contrasting character and that flows through into the way they manage their financial affairs."
Another example of how accounting treatments can differ arose when Mr Dalton released his comparison table. Hastings Mayor Lawrence Yule responded by disputing the $55.7 million figure it contained for his council's total external debt.
Mr Yule said the council's books recorded a corresponding short-term bank cash deposit of $10.6 million which brought the debt down to $45.1 million.
"This issue is exactly why it is so difficult to compare figures without independent review," he said.
But Mr Dalton stuck to his guns, saying: "You can't net off working capital or otherwise we would do it, and we don't."
The comparisons compiled by Mr Dalton show Napier's internal loans to be higher than Hastings', and forecast to grow significantly during the current financial year - from $36.8 million to $54.2 million - while the Hastings numbers are forecast to fall slightly to $32 million.
But Mr Dalton said the increase in Napier's internal debt may not happen if all projects planned by the council did not go ahead.
He said one aspect of internal borrowing was that it indicated a council had internal assets.
"You can't borrow the money off yourself if you haven't got it. It is actually an acknowledgement of the strength of the council."
There is no suggestion that the debt levels, or borrowing practices of either council is a concern when compared to other local authorities. It is widely accepted that councils need to carry debt. Indebtedness has a role in the concept of "intergenerational equity" - whereby the cost of building and servicing council amenities is spread over time so all users of those services pay their fair share towards them.
But with the amalgamation issue making a comparative assessment of councils' performance desirable, how can such a comparison be delivered?
Mr Yule this month wrote to the Local Government Commission asking them to include a detailed analysis of the current financial positions of the region's councils in its upcoming update on its amalgamation proposal.
"The commission is already undertaking more work on the financial position of the Hawke's Bay councils in order to respond to issues raised in submissions and hearings on the draft Hawke's Bay reorganisation proposal," commission acting chief executive Mark Batt told Mr Yule in a reply letter.
"The work being undertaken by the commission will include the issue of the respective levels of debt for each council and their approaches to sources of funding of this debt," Mr Batt said.
"The commission will release information on these matters to help inform the public of Hawke's Bay regarding the financial position of the Hawke's Bay councils and how this relates to the reorganisation proposal."
The commission has not said when its updated proposal will be released.