As the amalgamation debate continues Napier Mayor Bill Dalton speaks out against Aucklands formation of a Super City saying it is an experiment gone wrong....
The wheels are falling off the Auckland Super City juggernaut.
While the government is determined to have one council, amalgamated Auckland is proving to be a disaster for the people of that province.
Auckland ratepayer's costs are rising and their levels of service are falling dramatically.
Auckland's wage bill now exceeds $700 million.
And this doesn't include the army of contractors and consultants, some of whom have been there since the formation of the Super City.
The wage bill is now well in excess of the total wage bill at the time of amalgamation.
Debt has blown out to $7 billion and Auckland is borrowing $3 million per day.
This debt is now 87% more than that of the component councils and is predicted to rise to over $12 billion.
Interest costs alone are now $1 million per day – $365 million per year.
Auckland's financial position is unsustainable.
And now Len Brown has admitted they've got problems.
He has announced the levels of service provided by his council are going to have to fall even further.
He has announced that many promised projects are going to be either shelved or postponed indefinitely.
Auckland is going to have to slash $2.8 billion from its budget for core services.
Promised funding for libraries, sports fields and arts and cultural facilities will come under the knife.
Funding for roads is also at risk.
Auckland is now described as "financially strapped."
The dramatic and rapid decline in Auckland's financial position has answered a question that has been bugging me for a long time.
Why is there such indecent haste to try and amalgamate other areas of New Zealand?
We all know that we have a would be "Emperor" here in the Bay and that John Harrison's ABHB group want to gain power and control over the whole province.
And now we have the reason why the government is determined to ram amalgamation through against the wishes of most of the people.
As the amalgamation debate continues Napier Mayor Bill Dalton speaks out against Aucklands formation of a Super City saying it is an experiment gone wrong....
The wheels are falling off the Auckland Super City juggernaut.
While the government is determined to have one council, amalgamated Auckland is proving to be a disaster for the people of that province.
Auckland ratepayer's costs are rising and their levels of service are falling dramatically.
Auckland's wage bill now exceeds $700 million.
And this doesn't include the army of contractors and consultants, some of whom have been there since the formation of the Super City.
The wage bill is now well in excess of the total wage bill at the time of amalgamation.
Debt has blown out to $7 billion and Auckland is borrowing $3 million per day.
This debt is now 87% more than that of the component councils and is predicted to rise to over $12 billion.
Interest costs alone are now $1 million per day – $365 million per year.
Auckland's financial position is unsustainable.
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