17.2% RATES INCREASE!

The Whangarei District Council (WDC) wants to increase your rates by an astonishing 17.2%. And it is not going to end there. It is proposing another 10% increase next year, and another 10% the year after.

That means within the next three years the average ratepayer will be paying about $1,000 more than they are today. For those renting, that means a $20 increase in rent a week. 

The Mayor says the Council “cannot cost save our way out of this”. 

GARRICK TREMAIN CARTOON - Otago University

Grant Robertson retires from Parliament; is appointed vice-chancellor of Otago University.

HUNDERTWASSER TROUBLES

 

The viability of the Hundertwasser Arts Centre (HAC) is being questioned following a significant drop in visitor numbers in the second half of last year.

 In the first four months of operation, the HAC had 37,000 visitors. That dropped to just 19,800 in the latter half of 2023. This had a direct effect on admission fees and gift shop revenue. The revenue from entry fees did not even cover the staff costs which are forecast to be $1m for the full year.

 The total operating loss in the six months to 31 December 2023 was $765,000.  That shortfall has been partly covered by drawing down $500,000 from a $2 million contingency fund created to support the trust during its first 10 years. $500,000 was drawn down previously and $750,000 “dissolved” after a guarantee provided by the Ngātiwai Trust was forfeited by the Whangarei District Council in a behind-closed-door meeting in August 2023. Only $250,000 of that $2 million fund remains after just two years.

BALLOONING COUNCIL DEBT

The Whangarei District Council’s interest-bearing debt is now $340 million ($236m owed to external lenders and $104m taken from council reserves earmarked for projects that are yet to commence).

Five years ago the total debt was $224 million. That’s a 52% increase over five years. Half of that increase in debt can be attributed to the construction of the Council's new office building, Te Iwitahi.

TE IWITAHI OR WHITE ELEPHANT?

 

The final cost of the new council building (“Te Iwitahi”) in Rust Avenue is $61 million. Of this, $7.6m was paid to consultants.

When the building was first proposed in June 2018 the projected cost was $37 million. A year later that had increased to $38 million.

By February 2020 the estimate had grown to $48 million and the size had increased from 5500 square metres to 7000 square metres to accommodate up to 470 staff, including space to be leased to NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi on commercial terms.