Following reports in the Otago Daily Times this morning that Dunedin Railway is being subsidised by ratepayers to the tune of nearly $550 per passenger, Taxpayers’ Union Communications Officer, Alex Emes said “Andrew Simms is bang on the money. This gravy train needs to end.”

“If Dunedin Railways’ finances have gone off the rails, ratepayers can’t keep getting stuck with the bill. At some point, we have to pump the brakes.”

“Dunedin ratepayers have been smacked with a 17.5% rates hike just this year alone. Ratepayers can’t afford to keep coughing up freight-loads of cash for council vanity projects.

“The message to the Council is clear - dump the money pit, and let ratepayers keep more of their money.”

NOTES:

The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is an independent and membership-driven activist group, dedicated to being the voice for Kiwi taxpayers in the corridors of power. Its mission, lower taxes, less waste, more accountability, is supported by 200,000 subscribed members and supporters.

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