The Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance says the billion-dollar cost blowout of the City Rail Link will stretch Auckland Council finances to breaking point. Councillors must now choose between big rate increases or the sale of non-strategic assets.

In 2016, the City Rail Link (CRL) project was estimated to cost between $2.8 billion and $3.4 billion. It is now forecast to cost $5.5 billion, with Auckland ratepayers liable to pay half. That is a big increase even on the 2019 cost estimate of $4.42 billion.

Ratepayers’ Alliance spokesman Josh Van Veen says:

“Auckland Council is already in trouble with a $295 million budget hole. In December, Mayor Brown proposed a $130 million savings package that will reduce Council expenditure by 1.7% and keep rate increases below inflation. The proposal included the sale of shares in Auckland International Airport.

“While many Councillors have argued against the sale of Airport shares on philosophical grounds, today’s announcement from CRL Limited brings home the bleak reality. Unless the Council’s $2 billion stake in the Airport is sold, the Governing Body will have no choice but to impose big double-digit rate increases that will punish low-income households and worsen the cost-of-living crisis.”

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