More debt for
ratepayers, yippee - Northern Advocate - 23rd November 2011
Back to Basics -
Northern Advocate - 22nd November 2011
Money, money,
money
I just had to make comment on Thursday’s headline ‘Experts predict $3.5m
yearly from Basin art project’. I’m not
against projects like this but have concerns over the funding of it forced on
ratepayers.
I like many others, believe council needs to stick more to its core
business of providing good basic infrastructure. Our sewerage system is still failing, remember it’s still polluting our harbour; the last
year it was off limits for 6 months.
If the Hundertwasser project was that great an
idea and that profitable, I’m sure investors of this type of project would have
been clambering over each other, for a bit of the action.
With our local debt exceeding the budgeted debt promised by many of the
elected, now peaking at about $165million and rampaging out of control even
more, with more pie in the sky projects being rumored. On my reckoning if it’s that great, why not
build 50 Hundertwassers and the profit expected could
pay back the debt in a year. Yeah right;
forget the jokes; let’s get serious.
If the project fails to gain the returns that we are told of while
selling us the project, how about the CEO Mark
Simpson and his band of jolly supporters of the project, top up the ratepayer’s
coffers out of their own personal pockets, for the deficit.
The ratepayers have had a gutful of being councils walking EFTPOS machines.
It’s time to tighten up your belts; things could be going to be a bit
tougher for many, in the ensuing years.
Warren Slater
Maunu