George Wood, Dick Quax, Cameron Brewer: Our rate, borrow and spend city

Phtoto / Michael Craig, Herald on Sunday

Opinion

The Long Term Plan makes it clear the City Rail Link has virtually become a vanity project for the mayor, desperate to author his own legacy

The rate, borrow and spend approach of Mayor Len Brown is confirmed in the long-term plan for the region. Aucklanders are being asked by the mayor to accept new rates well above the rate of inflation at the same time the council is cutting back basic services.

This is not a plan spawned from financial reality. With more than 130,000 households trying to cope with rates increases of more than 10 per cent since the 2010 amalgamation, it is outrageous that the mayor now wants even more than he assured us would be needed to cover the city's spending.

He promised Aucklanders a rates increase of 2.5 per cent. But the budget he proposes to consult on calls for a rise of 3.5 per cent. With inflation running at just 1 per cent it is clear that he has scant regard for the financial pain this budget is inflicting on ratepayers. Senior citizens and those on modest fixed incomes will be especially hard hit.

If this lack of regard for the financial resources of individual members of our community is to be curbed, it is critical that a strong message of opposition to the proposals comes through from the community in the consultation phase.

Even as rates rise, the quality of service the council provides to the community will be reduced, and its own financial position will come under increasing strain.

Financial provision for the City Rail Link (CRL) is set to put the transport budget under enormous pressure.

Many important regional and local projects are now being unacceptably delayed. People will see a dramatic reduction in the maintenance of our roads. At the same time many long-awaited public transport improvements, such as new interchanges and busways, will be deferred. The CRL will have a devastating impact on other transport projects because of financial adjustments to accommodate its costs.

The long-term plan makes it clear the CRL has virtually become a vanity project for the mayor, desperate to author his own legacy. It's irresponsible in the extreme that we're not waiting to do the agreed business case with the Government in 2017 and for central government funding to kick in from 2020.

No responsible householder would proceed to do major extensions to his or her house without being sure of having the funding in place to do so. The long-term plan indicates that in the absence of firm public calls for a more certain financial plan the mayor intends to go on flying blind in the hope that other financing options will come through.

The mayor has refused to deliver on his promised public referendum on alternative transport funding. This makes it even more crucial that the Auckland community makes its views on such matters as the prospect of a motorway toll and a fuel tax very clear.

There is also a real prospect of an additional targeted rate for transport being introduced as an interim funding measure as the mayor tries to convince the Government to change legislation to accommodate tolling and fuel taxes.

In our view it is regrettable that the long-term plan does not canvas the option of investigating a sale of some key public assets to ease budgetary pressures. A partial sell-down of the operating business of the Ports of Auckland while retaining the underlying land in public ownership in the Ports of Auckland would be well worth examination.

The mayor believes the only one way the region can operate over the next 10 years is to rate, tax, borrow and toll. This is a poor budget which aims to see the hand of council coming out for much more money from Auckland households, rather than dialling back low-quality pet projects and finding more money within the organisation.

We are looking to "people power" to bring through the consultation process a degree of greater fiscal prudence into the long-term planning of this council.

- Cameron Brewer, George Wood and Dick Quax are Auckland councillors.