We note that the Administrators overturned the concept of a 3% rate burden reduction last year saying that it would bring doom and gloom along with chaos to the Council finances. That 3% rate burden reduction amounted to only about $1.2M from the rates bill. As can be

seen that is just 60% of the cuts that Council made in December. That really makes one question if the capital budget is actually relevant or is it just another tool to extract an unreasonable rate from the residents.

We make the claim that the Administration was worried about Council passing a motion that would require a 3% rate burden reduction so to avoid a Budget issue the Administration padded the capital Works budget with projects that were not needed – ie all the projects

dumped in December 2019.

We also note that over the past year there was an allocation of over $1.74m to the Bena bridge over the rail line on the Kongwak Rd. This project came in with $740K surplus which was also parked in the Council coffers. To add insult to injury, the Council passed the Budget

in July 2019 and included some $420K for a viewing platform at Agnes Falls and then in August deleted those works and parked the funds in Council coffers. Was this just a ruse to collect a war chest of funds to spend on a pet project?

These are not just small amounts that could be considered as part of works cost estimating being within a reasonable tolerance. The Capital budget is proving to be just a wish list and a means of extracting an unreasonable rate levy on the ratepayers. 

Lindsay Love