23 June 2015

[Statement from David Thornton]

Mayor must stop scaremongering and drop the Transport Levy

Transport Strategy ‘not fit for purpose”

The Mayor has grossly misled ratepayers by claiming they are ready to pay for additional transport projects through his new Transport Levy.

The Transport Levy was a very late addition to the budget.

Ratepayers were not directly asked if they supported a $114 annual levy for three years on top of an ‘average’ rate rises of up to 4.5%.

That is quite different to a ‘possible ’one-year levy of $58 hidden away in the budget consultation documents.

Faced with the prospect of his council voting against the budget the Mayor has resorted to scaremongering.

He is warning of the dire effects on the council’s credit position if the budget is rejected.

If this budget were simply voted down there may well be a little temporary nervousness in the money market, but that would disappear when a new budget is in place.

Leading business and industry leaders, including Chamber of Commerce head Michael Barnett, have recently condemned the Mayor’s transport strategy, calling it ‘not fit for purpose’.

The Government has also said the transport plan will not solve Auckland’s transport problems.

Against this opposition the Council needs to re-think its transport strategy.

At this late stage in the financial year the council does need to have a budget in place.

The Council should remove the Transport Levy from the budget and reduce its capital expenditure by the amount the levy would have supported.

It could then set the rate that was proposed in the Draft Budget which was the base for public consultation.

It should be possible to complete that process before the June 30th end of the financial year.

At the same time it should call for an urgent review of its transport strategy, in collaboration with Government, and reprioritise its transport expenditure to suit that revised and agreed strategy.

The Mayor needs to drop his scaremongering and respond to the concerns of ratepayers by dropping his unwanted transport levy.

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