At first that seems like a long way off, but in reality - and given the nature of planning, financing and implementing major projects - is just a short 16 years, or five elections, away.
It's clear, given the debt situation, something major needs to happen now.
On May 22 last year we reported councillor Mike McVicker's call to axe 50 council jobs. He said a proposed 0.99 per cent average rates increase was unsustainable and would be funded by debt.
Councillor Janet Wepa said at the time the debt was in response to projects the community wanted including the airport and improved lake water quality.
She said there were several options to reduce debt, including increasing rates, cutting staff numbers or dropping major capital projects.
Now, with the benefit of hindsight, we can see all three of those options may have to come into play.
We can't have our cake and eat it too.