August 06, 2025
News is breaking that a massive blunder has taken place in Auckland Council’s latest rates calculation, coming down to human error. It is currently unknown how many households have been overcharged for their rates bill.
Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance spokesman, Sam Warren, said:
“People are going without to be able to afford their rates bill, and now we’re discovering the bills were wrong.”“We’re calling for an urgent inquiry into this blunder, and an immediate halt to all rates bills going out until we can have full confidence that the issue is resolved.”
“More than 600,000 households rely on Auckland Council to get this right – the team overseeing rates literally have one job. This is not hard or complicated work. Such a huge error has destroyed any residual trust we can have in our decision-makers and the so-called experts paid extremely well not to screw this up.”
“If IRD sent out the wrong tax invoices, heads would roll. We must hold Auckland Council to the same standard. These people are being paid a fortune – the least they can do is do their jobs correctly. It’s simply not good enough. Someone must be held accountable, now.”
“We are urgently requesting a meeting with Auckland Council officials so they cannot dance around the seriousness of the issue through their army of comms staff. Aucklanders deserve answers and accountability.”
“Until we have every assurance in the calculations, and until the officials at the centre of this are held to account, Auckland ratepayers must not pay bills that they have no way of knowing are fair or accurate.”
August 01, 2025
The Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance can reveal through a Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act request, Auckland Council has spent $430,865 on Te Reo Māori training over the past three years with no tests, no pass/fail criteria, and no proficiency outcomes required.
What’s more, the Council confirms staff logged 6,411 paid hours completing these courses at an estimated further $317,922.10 in staff costs.
Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance spokesman Sam Warren said:
“Ratepayers are again footing the bill for corporate cultural training that requires zero demonstration of learning. These aren’t just language courses, they’re another feel-good workshop.”
“Auckland Council has spent nearly half a million on the training itself, and then stuck ratepayers with the bill for more than three full years of full-time staff hours to attend.”
“Councils love spending big on this kind of training, but box-ticking isn’t an outcome in itself. If Auckland Council thinks training programmes are a good use of ratepayer money, then they either need to prove it or scrap the schemes.”
July 25, 2025
The Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance can reveal through the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act request, more than $14,393,977 has been spend by Auckland Council on the Colin Dale Park development since 2014.
While the facility was initially presented as a motorsport facility that would be funded through the Colin Dale Park Kartsport Development Charitable Trust, ratepayers have ended up paying tens of millions towards earthworks, drainage, power, and more.
Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance spokesman Sam Warren said:
“What was meant to be a club-led effort has turned out to be a $14 million dollar white elephant funded by Auckland ratepayers. Where’s the accountability on this?”
“Ratepayers should not be funding infrastructure for private organisations – virtually everything but the track itself looks to have been paid for by hardworking ratepayers that will never use it.”
“Auckland Council had already contributed $2.8 million from a local board grant in 2014, and then followed through with another $2.5 million last year. Now that we’ve exposed the real number for exceeding $14 million, you have to wonder where this all stops?"
"No more blank cheques for white elephants. Auckland Council has no business funding private endeavours that should stand on their own two-feet.”
July 03, 2025
The Auckland Ratepayers' Alliance has slammed Auckland Transport for paying social media influencers $147,765 between May 2024 and May 2025. All campaigns were centred on dissuading Aucklanders from using their own cars as a transport option.
“Auckland Transport really does everything but actually getting our roads moving—it’s ridiculous. They don’t need a marketing and comms department, they need to pull their heads in.” said Sam Warren, an Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance spokesman.
“You’re a transport provider; provide transport. That’s it.”
“While Auckland Transport will not confirm how much each influencer was paid, we can average the total between the 10 of them. That’s nearly $15,000 per influencer, paid for by Auckland ratepayers.”
“This obsession with engineering the public’s behaviour is as silly as it is expensive. They answer is to focus on the basics well, provide excellent service and let Aucklanders choose what’s best for them.”
“Mayor Wayne Brown this week began his much anticipated CCO reform, starting with the dissolution of Eke Panuku and Tātaki Auckland Unlimited. Next in line is Auckland Transport, who is as guilty as the others for wasting ratepayer money on ideological twaddle that Aucklanders don’t need or want.”
May 28, 2025
Auckland Transport’s proposed $380,000 raised crossing project in Waiuku has been paused following public backlash for its high cost.
"This is not the first time, and unless someone bangs the heads of the AT planners together—it won’t be the last." said Sam Warren, a spokesman for the Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance.
“AT needs to start listening more. People are fed up with these expensive projects when more affordable alternatives can be found. The disconnect is insane, to think that this is an appropriate use of ratepayer money, or that the 30-day road closure was at all necessary."
"We have here an overzealous agency that should be focused on getting traffic flowing, not stemmed."
“By all means, build well, improve safety. But gone are the days when you think you should provide gold-plated solutions for problems that don’t exist. Do better.”
May 21, 2025
The Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance revealed last night on Newstalk ZB’s Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive that $3,248,785 has been spent on advertising and promotion for Auckland Council’s $36 million Food Scrap Bin Programme.
Sam Warren, a spokesman for the Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance, has slammed Council, saying:
“An extreme amount has been wasted on a poorly planned programme. Council seems desperate to make it work—and after all that money wasted, they say only a third of residents actually use the bins.”
“$1.4 million on paid media, $620,000 on an agency for concept and designs — and even $70,000 for ‘research’. Even after $194,000 on ‘community engagement programmes and training’ Aucklanders still aren’t interested.”
“The obscenely expensive programme has been exposed for its lack of full emissions auditing, and the more digging done, the worse it actually seems to get. It’s fast becoming nothing short of a scandal.”
“As it's been pointed out, the scheme doesn’t stack up from an both environment and an economic standpoint. Auckland Council seem to have acted desperately to make this work, and have spent more than $3 million of ratepayers’ money flogging a dead horse.”
“As pressure grows on Council for its virtue-signalling, we’ve called for the scrap bin programme to be scrapped—or at the very least, an opt-out option for those two thirds of Aucklanders not using the bins but are still forced to pay for them.”
May 19, 2025
The Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance has today launched a campaign calling for Auckland Council to scrap its $36 million food scrap bin programme.
“Last week it came to light what many already suspected; the numbers behind the food scrap bin programme don’t actually add up” said Sam Warren, a spokesman for the Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance.
“It’s the sort of
virtue-signalling that leads to stupid, expensive decisions that Aucklanders end up having to pay for. We’re calling on the Mayor to lead the fight for sensible spending of ratepayer money.”
“Only one third of Aucklanders use the bins, while everyone pays for them. There isn’t an opt-out option, even for those already composting their organic waste.”
“Whether you’re the greenest of the greens, or most frugal of ratepayers—all sides can agree the best thing would be for council to end the charade. Planting trees or buying carbon credits would be better for the environment, and our back pockets."
“Other councils like Whanganui have recently pulled out of implementing their own scheme because they’ve cottoned onto the fact that it’s just one big expensive mess.”
“We understand plans were put in place for the scheme well before the Mayor was elected. As someone who stands strong on no-nonsense politics, we hope for his support in this fight.”
“We’re encouraging all Aucklanders to use our email tool to send Mayor Wayne Brown a clear message, asking for a better, greener use of hard-earned ratepayer money.”
May 13, 2025
Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown has released an updated manifesto outlining his vision for the Super City, which urges Central Government to reconsider its position on allowing a bed night levy, otherwise known as a bed tax.
Sam Warren, a spokesman for the Auckland Ratepayers Alliance, said:
“Mayor Brown’s focus on growth and investment in this update is entirely correct given the massive challenges the city faces—but a new tax is simply not the answer Aucklanders are looking for.”
“The mayor was elected to cut through the tangles of bureaucracy plaguing Council and get them running lean. Taxing short-term visitors to fund more events is a step backwards in this effort.”
“Now is certainly not the time to lose focus. Do not succumb to the same voices that steered us down this path of distraction we find ourselves now.”
May 12, 2025
$36 million a year greenwashing: Auckland’s Food Scrap Bins built on political grandstanding
The Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance has slammed Auckland Council’s $36 million Food Scrap Bin programme following reports of overstated environmental benefits relative to the scheme’s high cost, and incomplete emissions accounting.
“Aucklanders shouldn’t be forced to pay for virtue-signalling when the maths doesn't actually stack up” said Sam Warren, a spokesman for the Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance.
“Greenwashing has ratepayers paying tens of millions of dollars each year, when the same amount of carbon saved would cost far less under the ETS. Why not just buy carbon credits or plant trees?”
“Meanwhile, only one third of households actually use the bins, despite everyone having to pay for them. Why was there not an opt-out option, especially for Aucklanders who already compost?”
“Other councils like Whanganui have recently cottoned on to the fact that the numbers didn’t make sense, deciding not to commit to the programme back in March.”
“As for Auckland, either the Council didn’t care enough to do the proper analysis—or simply wanted to be ‘seen to be green’, as opposed to actually being effectual from both an environmental, and ratepayer, perspective.”
“Better transparency shouldn’t need to be wrestled out of Auckland Council. If they really believe their numbers make sense—show us. Otherwise, it’s time for a discussion as to whether this incredibly expensive virtue-signal can continue to exist.”
April 22, 2025
The Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance is calling on Mayor Wayne Brown to front up and answer questions following reporting by Newsroom that he awarded more than $300,000 in Mayoral office contracts to a close friend and business partner and failed to declare two jointly owned companies in the Council's register of interests.
“It’s a terrible look—the Mayor needs to front up” said Sam Warren, a spokesman for the Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance.
"The Newsroom reporting is a test of the institutional safeguards against self-dealing. Does Auckland Council's conflict of interest policies mean anything at all, or are they just a fig leaf? If the Council can't deal with this in a robust and transparent manner, it's appropriate for the Auditor-General to step in."
"This isn't the first time the Super City has had a Mayor award jobs to 'mates'. Disgraced former Mayor Len Brown appointed his mistress as an 'ethnic advisor', although the amounts in the Wayne Brown case appear to be significantly larger."
