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Dick Hubbard

Dick Hubbard

Water bills are set to rise across the Auckland region with the monopoly water supplier planning eight years of price increases to pay for capital works.

First in line to pay higher bills are Auckland City householders and businesses. They face a 9.1 per cent rise after the Citizens & Ratepayers Now group voted in secret with Auckland Mayor Dick Hubbard and his deputy, Bruce Hucker, yesterday to push through the increase.

This will lift the average household water bill from $800 a year to $1000.

The increase follows a 9.6 per cent rise just 10 months ago and revelations that the region's bulk water supplier, Watercare, is planning to double its prices between 2008 and 2016 to pay for capital works.

There is also a proposal for Watercare to pay a dividend to local councils, which would lead to even bigger price rises for households and businesses across the region.

Auckland City officers have begun crunching the numbers on the impact of the Watercare price rises and the cost implications of a potentially costly tax matter to do with its own water retailer, Metrowater.

Work has also started on the size of next year's increase by Metrowater.

Metrowater chairman Ross Keenan said yesterday a 10 per cent rise by Watercare equated to a 5 per cent rise in the retail price to customers.

He said even before the proposed Watercare increases, Metrowater would have to raise prices next year to meet the council's demand for a $26 million dividend. "One can't argue that the price of water and the value of water is assuming new dimensions," Mr Keenan said.

Mr Hubbard said he voted for the 9.1 per cent increase because the consequences of reducing it were "too horrendous".

It would have added about 4.3 per cent to this year's overall proposed rates increase of 3.6 per cent, cuts of $12 million to essential work like footpath renewals and roadworks, or a combination of both.

Asked if this confirmed the contention by some councillors that the council was using Metrowater as a "cash cow" to keep rates down, Mr Hubbard said the Metrowater dividend was being spent on stormwater. Money earmarked for stormwater was freed up for spending on other things like footpaths.

Green Party councillor Neil Abel has called this a "smoke-and-mirrors" exercise amounting to a hidden rates rise.