Auckland has made painstaking progress toward becoming a functioning modern city. Now its councillors may put that in jeopardy for a proposal that will save ratepayers an average of 47 cents a week. Hayden Donnell reports. In the depths of the Covid-19 lockdown, Auckland’s councillors started coming under pressure from a familiar antagonist. It was … Read more
Amid the economic downturn caused by Covid-19, local government is under serious financial pressure. Alex Braae reports. During his speech to announce the 2020 budget, finance minister Grant Robertson made it clear that there would be no return to the politics of austerity. Central government would borrow huge sums, blowing out debt levels. The massive … Read more
In the last public debate of the Auckland mayoral campaign, the three leading contenders fronted up to a crowd of rates-averse elderly people – and an unlikely hero emerged. Hayden Donnell reports. The Spinoff local election coverage is entirely funded by The Spinoff Members. For more about becoming a member and supporting The Spinoff’s journalism, click … Read more
Welcome to the Cheat Sheet, a clickable, shareable, bite-sized FAQ on the news of the moment. Today, Don Rowe on claims that ratepayers are funding a sex party at the Pride Festival. What’s all this then? The Auckland Ratepayers Alliance is well and truly pissed off because, it says, ratepayer money will fund next week’s … Read more
Auckland Council has released the city’s new property valuations and some people who should know better have taken the chance to say all sorts of stupid things. Simon Wilson sets them straight. Jo Holmes from the Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance was on RNZ’s Morning Report today saying that Aucklanders will be paying “thousands of dollars” more … Read more