Auckland Mayor Phil Goff’s excuses for
continuing ahead with his planned rates hikes, despite the
financial turmoil caused by COVID-19, don’t add up say the
Auckland Ratepayers’
Alliance.
Jo Holmes, a
spokeswoman for the Alliance says, “Mayor Goff
claims that the books have been well managed, but he can’t
freeze rates because the Council’s debt to income ratio
makes that too hard. It shows his financial management
wasn’t so good after all.”
“We certainly
don’t support piling even more debt onto the Council’s
books. That would just kick the can down the road so
tomorrow’s ratepayers have to cough up even more. But
there is another way: cutting back on low priority spending
and reprioritising the money saved.”
“On a per
ratepayer basis, Christchurch City Council has even more
debt than Auckland. If Lianne Dalziel can find ways to cut
costs in Christchurch and freeze rates, Phil Goff can too.
Based on Mr Goff's comments on the radio yesterday, he’s
not even
trying.”
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