The key to keeping Auckland moving in the 10-year budget is the Interim Transport Levy - at $2.19 per week for residential ratepayers and $3.52 per week for business ratepayers. This raises $60m a year for three years, but due to the mix of projects actually unlocks $170m of investment each year.
With that we will create 45km of new bus lanes, 600 new or upgraded bus stops, 6 new or revamped Park & Rides, and considerably boost our cycling and road safety spend, among other things.
Over 27,000 people had their say on Auckland's future through our budget consultation and their message was clear. Aucklanders want an outstanding public transport system. But they don't want to rely on perpetual rates increases to build it.
Despite this the Government remains indifferent. We need legislative change to enable alternatives to rates - be they motorway user charges, a regional fuel tax or other means. The Government has yet to lift a finger and point to a solution. Without that, we remain reliant upon the flawed, government-mandated model of a capital value based rating system.
So what was a councillor to do come decision time?
It would have been all too easy to vote for parochial, pet project spending item by item, before absolving oneself of responsibility by voting against the overall budget. Filling the shopping trolley but leaving it to others, if anyone, to pay at the checkout.
But the cost of doing that - of doing nothing - is always higher. The avoidable cost of congestion for Auckland would keep rising from the estimated $638 million per annum (NZTA 2013 estimate) - equivalent to $26 per household week in week out - and transport in Auckland would grind down to a screeching halt.
Credit downgrades would have been likely. There would have been talk of flying in government-appointed commissioners to solve a problem which would have been largely of their own making. And ultimately every Auckland resident would have suffered for it.
That's why I stand by my vote to back the Budget. I didn't back every aspect of it and throughout I used my voice and vote to mitigate the burden on the individual ratepayer. While my vote didn't always carry the day, that is no excuse to pass the buck rather than pass the budget.
The decision to give effect to the Interim Transport Levy is crucial - it's the now-or-never response that will let Auckland prepare for growth rather than submit to stagnation and ever-growing congestion. It's our stop-gap measure to keep Auckland afloat while we try to persuade the government to shake off its intransigence.
I know that despite all of this, many people are looking at rates increases like they are their energy bills. Council's Rates Information Database for the year has been updated today so you'll be able to check exactly how you are affected yourself.
Rates rebates are available to people with high rates relative to their incomes so if this could be you I encourage you to get in touch with council to find out. Only a third of eligible Aucklanders took up this option in recent years.
Over the next year I'll continue to advocate wherever I can to reduce the rates burden, explore more equitable alternative funding sources and bring the government to the table to share in the solutions. But right now, the pressure to act for Auckland's future has fallen on Auckland Council in the absence of government.
Meanwhile, ask your local councillor what they placed in their 10-year budget shopping cart and whether they procceded to checkout or conveniently handed over their cart of goodies for others to push and pay for.
Chris Darby is an Auckland City councillor for the North Shore ward.
