The Taxpayers’ Union can reveal that Tauranga City Council has spent $41,900 over just seven months paying public transport fares for 630 of its staff, almost half of which are earning more than $100,000 a year.

The spending is part of the city’s Bee Card scheme that forces ratepayers to fund transport for bureaucrats who in most instances will be earning more than them.

Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, said:

“Council staff should be paying their own way to work like almost every other ratepayer has to. Ratepayers are effectively being forced to pay fares twice, once for their own travel into the city and a second time for the highly-paid bureaucrat sitting next to them.

“The Council is deliberately misleading ratepayers by over-inflating the impact of this handout on congestion and parking pressures. They assert that every ratepayer-funded trip taken means one less car on the road, neglecting to mention that some staff would have taken the bus regardless and others would have taken alternative transport such as walking, cycling or carpooling.

“If the council was really concerned about congestion, they should start by removing the free car parking subsidy for many of their staff. Tauranga residents would have never voted for this handout, but it’s no surprise the cartel of unelected commissioners are looking after their own at ratepayers’ expense.”

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