The War on Council Waste: Battlefield guide launched

The Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance has today released The War on Council Waste: A battlefield guide, printing copies for its financial members, 20,000 supporters, and key stakeholders in the Super City.

We are distributing this pocket-sized factbook for Auckland ratepayers to know how the Council is spending their money. The guide will feature on the coffee tables of ratepayers across Auckland.

The average Auckland household now pays $1,300 more in Council expenses compared to when the Super City was founded. The wasteful spending and broken promises highlighted in this guide help to explain why.

Key facts in the Council guide:

• Inflated spending – the Council is raking in 46% more than five years ago.
• A growing rates burden – the average household pays $1,300 more now than when the Super City was formed.
• Costly debt – the average household now pays $850 a year just to pay interest on the Council’s debt.
• New examples of waste – the Council now spends $45 million a year on communications staff (i.e. spin doctors).
• Broken promises – Pre-election, Phil Goff said he would cut waste and ‘do more with less’ at the Council.  Now, he is charging Aucklanders new levies and taxes.

Copies of the booklet are available on request, and free for those who join and donate to the Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance at www.ratepayers.nz/donate.