Tasman District Council

The Question Staff Would Not Answer

20/09/2022

In the interests of showing you the tragic trajectory of debt that the Kempthorne — King — Bryant dynasty has Tasman District Council on I asked Council staff the following question:

Could I have a printout of the debt figures for the last 25 tears and the next 10 years?
Dean McNamara

This was to demonstrate how the once strong balance sheet of the Council has been mismanaged to the point of bankruptcy under the current more-of-the-same elected officials that have ruled the roost for almost a quarter of a century.

I was hoping that staff could push some buttons and print me out a graph. This is apparently not something they could do. And what is more, my request was treated as a Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act (LGOIMA) request as per the response below.

LGOIMA Friday 8/26/22

Kia Ora Dean,

I refer to your official information request dated 17 August 2022 for 35 years of debt figures being the last 25 tears and the next 10 years.

All of the Annual Reports have a Financial statement section. The debt figures you are referring to can be found in the balance sheet (Statement of Financial Position) You can review the annual reports on our website: Annual reports | Tasman District Council

If you are not satisfied with Council’s response, you have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman. Information about how to make a complaint is available at www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone 0800 802 602.

If you wish to discuss this decision with us, please feel free to contact the Legal and Democracy Services team on lgoima@tasman.govt.nz.

Yours sincerely
Carrie
LGOIMA | Governance Services

As you can see from the link provided (as poorly laid out as it is) this information only goes back to 2007 and not the 25 years as requested. So I sent a reply asking that I “I have the figures of debt over the past 25 years” as requested, having now given up on a graph with the next 10 years of projected debt also documented.

A response was received from Kate Redgrove on Monday the 29th.

Kia ora Dean,

I’ll follow this up with our Finance Team and get back to you.

Nga mihi

Kate Redgrove

After no response, I sent a follow up query on Wednesday the 14th of the 9th which was the full extension of “as soon as reasonably practicable, and in no case later than 20 working days after the day on which the request is received by that local authority.”

To which I then receive the following later that day:

Hi Dean,

Sorry for the delay. Below is the response from our Finance Team, which I hope is helpful:

Looking at the Annual Report for 2020 the Gross Debt figure is the ‘Current Portion of Borrowings’ plus the ‘Term Borrowings’

So;

Kate Redgrove

Now the response includes information only for 2019 / 2020 years, so I respond that my original request was for the debt figure from 25 years ago. I have given up on the chart of debt idea and have opted instead for a start figure.

Following a meeting with the Mayor on the following day, the 15th of the 9th, I forwarded the conversation to him as per his request. Later that day I received the following response:

Hi Dean, sorry that things have become muddled.

The original request from you is recorded as “…35 years of debt figures being the last 25 years and the next 10 years…”.

I’ve referred this back to the Finance Team for further assistance. It may be easier for them to contact you directly.

Regards,

Kate Redgrove,

Having received no further response I emailed Kate again the morning of the 20th of the 9th suggesting that “As my request to staff was treated as a LGOIMA request there are certain obligations that come with that and as a Council we are certainly not meeting those.”

The question is why do they not want to disclose that debt has risen from what I believe was $9 million (according to Maxwell Clark’s files) to the current projected level of debt which is just shy of $250 million under the current leadership?

The $250 million figure will be revised to well over $300 million in the coming term (in my opinion).

I say this because interest rates are more than double what they were when that figure, with no contingency, was set. Also, they refused to include any budget for the new offices — that we don’t know if we are going to build, renovate, or lease — but we went ahead and bought some land to build on anyway. And of course there is that old chestnut called the Waimea Irrigation Dam that will continue to present more overruns. But it doesn’t end there with staff continuing to “actively work on” the Mapua to Rabbit Island cycle bridge and now a proposal to start buying up city blocks on behalf of developers so that they can intensify development.

If Tasman elects more-of-the-same again I don’t want to hear complaints about your rates climbing out of control, that is the path you chose.

I am back …

27/08/2022

Hello again. Sorry I have been quiet this past year. There is a reason for it, but I am not allowed to tell you. At least not until the dam debt blows out another $50 million, at which point all bets are off.

I have decided to stand again in the up-coming election. This was by no means a forgone conclusion for a number of reasons. One, I am not a career politician so retiring in the job is not the plan. Two, it is soul destroying watching agendas triumph over common sense and logical argument. Three, we can’t talk about as mentioned above.

So why did I decide to stand again?

I have seen the staff agenda for the next trimester and the resulting rate increases will make your eyes water (to be polite). The absurdity of what is proposed will leave plenty of housing available – it will not be affordable for the average person not on a Council staff payroll (fortunately the current growth trajectory of staff should maintain house prices for those being driven off the land).

More of the same is simply not sustainable and that is why I decided to stand in the Nelson Lakes – Murchison ward. If we are going to see a repeat of the more-of-the-same voting then I do not want to be back in Council. I will need to get a real job for a start to pay the resulting rate increases. But also, I do not want to sit around and hear the collective wisdom that believed a pandemic crashing global stock markets and forcing countries into lock down was going to have minimal effect in NZ, or that global inflation of levels not seen since the 1980’s was going to result in a 2% interest rate for the next ten years. Never mind the belief in a P95 $76 million dam estimate or a $104 million “good as fixed price” quote that Councillor Mailing stood up in the Richmond Town Hall and told everyone how disappointing it was but it was “his job to make sure it was delivered on time and on budget.” You be the judge on how well he has performed given that it is almost $200 million and some 18 months behind schedule at 70% complete.

Looking forward to the next term we will see further blowouts on the dam. Hence why we are not objecting more than a minor murmur to the Three Waters impending debacle. Although it proposed that the debt will transfer to a new entity, it is also highly probable that the debt will stay tagged to the Tasman region. In other words, although you will be billed by a new entity you will not escape the responsibility (or some might say irresponsibility) of the Waimea Irrigation Dam debt. Plus all the other costs of three tiers of Governance and all the wonderful works proposed by the new entities.

Another point to note, is that all this “free money” (not a plug for mayoral candidate Richard Osmaston) that we receive from the Government to make sure we are “no worse off” is to be spent on things with strings that are not allowed to include Three Waters projects. Surprise! All this free money debt is also likely to be tagged to the new entities. But don’t worry it will make water more affordable than the current model.

This is also the environment that our staff are planing to embark on build of new offices for themselves. I am not sure that there has been a worse time in history (with the possible exception of the middle of World War 2) to embark on a building project. Supply chains are broken, but inflation is working very well.

You will also be relieved to hear that this will not be a minimalist build. It will be to the latest Government rated 5 star building standard, and it will be large enough to house not only the staff left after the Three Water grab, but big enough for any potential amalgamation that drops out of the Local Government reform currently being undertaken (at the very least). Of course none of this expense was put into the current Ten Year Plan because we didn’t want to scare you too much.

But wait, there is more! Staff also informed us that they continue to work on the proposed Mapua to Rabbit Island cycle bridge. Something on a scale not dissimilar to the Auckland Harbour cycle bridge when you take into account the size of both the bridge and the rating base. This is not a flash in the pan idea, it is one that more resembles whack-a-mole with the persistence with which it keeps coming back.

Just because our staff are working on pet projects like these do not think they do not have time to dream up more ways to bankrupt the district. The latest brain fart fell out of the recent Joint Future Development Strategy is that the two Council’s could work together to buy up inner city blocks to give to a developer. The thinking being that if you really want intensification in the central city you have to do it in one hit – which is obvious. However, the reason that the Council’s have to buy up the land (before handing it to a developer because we are not property developers) is because Council can be more patient. That is to say we can invest over a longer term without expecting a return on our money. And by “our money” I mean mine and your money! And no prizes for guessing which direction prices will head as soon as Council embarks on a buying spree!

Debt over the past 25 years is on an exponential growth trajectory

“Out of control” are some words that spring to mind. “Out of touch” are other words that could be applied. If more-of-the-same are elected again I can assure that these out-of-the-box ideas will be your future. Fortunately, the interest rates will only be 2% according to the deputy Mayor so no worries!

If you look at the debt that Tasman District Council had 25 years ago when the current Mayor and Deputy Mayor were first elected to the council it was a fraction of what it is now and the Council was one of the most financially viable councils in the country thanks to our forefathers investment in commercial enterprise. We are now bogged down with debt and are continuing our exponential debt growth spend. Standard and Poor’s have already warned us of future credit rating down grades as we continue to load up with debt.

So yeah. Up to you. More of the same or time for a change?

Incidentally, as I publish this I am waiting for the publication of Stuff hit piece along the lines just published on Nelson City candidates and others around the country. I will respond to that once it goes live.

3 Waters Reform and More

04/10/2021

Water continues to cause concern around the region. I have had some 500 emails calling for our Council to reject the Government’s Three Waters reform package. Oddly, not a single email in support.

Incidentally, I use the term Three Waters rather than Three Water as someone pointed out would be more linguistically correct, because that is the term Government use. I am no linguist to debate the rights and wrongs of it.

Around the country we have had Councils vocalising concern over the honourable Mahuta’s reform. Hawkes Bay Mayor’s want to keep the reform in-house. Most of the South Island Mayors have been consistent with the view that it is not currently something that will work for them

In fact some Christchurch Councillors have called for the resignation of the honourable Mahuta

Unlike Nelson City Council, that had a Mayor and a CEO on the working party for the 3 Waters Reform, Tasman voted to send a message that we were unlikely to support the reform in its current form.

What is wrong with where Minister Mahuta is taking the reform?

Firstly, we have to ask if New Zealanders want gold plated 3 Waters systems. Or are we mostly happy with the provision of water that sometimes has a pipe burst, or very occasionally (like once in my lifetime) may put people’s health at risk. Yes, there are places that haven’t delivered as well as they could have, and we can all do better. But would you rather that or a gold plated solution that only the elite few can afford to drink from or flush away?

That is the first question that should have been consulted on. Because when we look at the satisfaction survey that Tasman polls the ratepayers with the overall satisfaction of our water supply service is 86% our Wastewater is at 98% and our Storm water is at 93% positive satisfaction levels.

The next issue with the 3 Water Reform is that it is delivering on the Government’s He Paupau agenda, which is something that was never campaigned on and certainly never consulted on. It will see the Maori interests gain a 50% and controlling share (as a 75% majority of stakeholders is required for a decision) of the Governance of all future 3 Water delivery.

Just like all New Zealanders, Maori have contributed to the establishment of the current Council controlled infrastructure. Just like all New Zealanders they have a say in who is elected to Council and like all New Zealanders can run for Council. In recent years they have had even more say as Council has to consult with Iwi (usually prior to the general ratepayer consultation) over any significant decision. But now, we are told that half the board members of the new entities controlling the 3 Waters will be Iwi appointed. Some have suggested that this is not democracy as their representation far out-ways their population.

Representation in the new entities is sparse enough for the general ratepayer without race based representation. It is likely that the three Council’s in the top of the South Island would have one appointed (non-elected) representative between them. Good luck getting a hold of them to pitch your case on a local issue, and then seeing how much voice they have at the next board meeting.

Centralisation will lead to a greater example of what we have now. With only so much budget, and so many staff hours, decisions will have to be made on how to best spend their money. Obviously, they will start with projects that deliver the most bang for buck – that is that which benefits the greatest number of people. In our case that would most likely be addressing the woeful Wellington water situation, just as Richmond currently gets projects brought forward with regular monotony because of the great gains we can make by combining projects or working with developers (sorry Tapawera, Murchsion, Ngatimoti, Collingwood).

Deliverability of the gold plated 3 Waters package is about as likely as Kiwi Build providing 10 000 new houses, or Auckland getting light rail or a harbour cycle bridge, or Ardern reducing child poverty (as something she did campaign on). There is physically not the availability of engineers or contractors in the Country to deliver the reform in any kind of timely manner.

And all of that would depend on someone funding the work. Some suggest that the new entities should be paying market rates for the infrastructure. I have news for you, they have no money, they just have an ability to borrow money – you the water user will be paying for the purchase and all the horrendous amounts of interest generated from the borrowing to pay you the ratepayer for the assets. On top of that the huge debt that will be racked up to upgrade the services to a gold plated standard.

Even more scary would be the thought that the Council whom have dug us into the best part of a $300 million hole would be given a large portion of the money back to lose it all over again! Meanwhile you are liable for both amounts.

Finally, let us also speak of the fact that NONE of the models we are basing the 3 Waters reform on have a 3 Water system. At best they have a 2 Water system that excludes Storm Water. The Storm Water component from the Government showed a complete lack of understanding of how it would work in the draft workings presented to Council to date. Many of our Storm Water infrastructures are currently managed in the Parks and Reserves space, others are connected to the roading network, and many flow paths are designations across private property.

There is nothing about another level of bureaucracy that screams efficiency and better levels of service or better delivery. As one of the emails submitted by a high ranking local fire officer suggests, when FENZ was created under the auspices of greater efficiency we have actually ended up with 50% cost increases and, at best, no improvement of service over the old rural and urban fire brigade system.

However, the 3 Waters Reform is just one of the many examples of your rights being diminished by this Government. The honourable Boyack took great pleasure in informing Councillors in attendance at a recent Resource Management Act reform workshop about how NIMBYs would no longer halt progress on the grounds of loss of “amenity” values. The new Act has no provision at all for amenity. Amenity being things that you value about where you live, like peace and quiet, nice views, village feel and the like.

Again, good luck getting local views represented by the new system of appointed commissioners hearing all plan changes and subdivision consents etc.

Many other rights are being stripped from you as you read this. Some under the banner of COVID response, others just because we can, most from agenda’s that were never campaigned on much less consulted on.

Tasman District Council is also definitely experiencing a lot of positive change this term. ███████ ██████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████

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When I questioned how we could fill a position without the budget to pay them (it was apparently in the LTP) which I pointed out had not been signed off, I was told if they had to they would accommodate it within the existing management budget. At the time, I questioned how the budget could have that much fat in it, but was assured it would be accommodated.

Fast forward a few months and we get a report stating that the “Corporate overhead activity had a deficit of $152, 000” which includes Coporate, Finance, Operational Governance, Property, Office Overheads, Human Resources, Project Management Office, and Executive.

So in the handful of months since signing off on the LTP our governance budget has gone from having enough money to fund a deputy CEO from existing budgets, to being $152, 000 over the new budget. Given that I am sure the deputy CEO is on a remuneration that is likely well North of $200, 000,especially if you also take into account the staff that are needed to assist the new position, then we have managed to “lose” more than $350 000 in a few months.

We are told that the Project Management is largely to blame for the deficit and that much of it will be recouped by the time the Government’s spending up on projects with unspent COVID funds from the first round is completed. What they aren’t telling us is how much unattributed money the dam is costing us. We consistently have numerous staff working on dam related matters that is billed as “overheads” and are not tagged as dam related. This will only dramatically increase if 3 Waters negotiations are required.

Do not forget that we also have a need to house our ever increasing staff numbers. Despite the CEO telling me that the move of a number of staff to the office above the mall was a temporary measure and they would shrink back to the Council building once renovations were carried out it was only a few months later that we were told we needed even more staff space. After I insisted that we have a proper review of the situation it was decided nothing short of a complete rebuild or new building would suffice.

Even knowing this they refused to allocate any budget in the LTP and the auditor turned a blind eye to the glaring deficit in funding required in the next ten years ( I pointed it out to him twice).

With Mike Scott, CEO of the dam company, further reminding us that they at the “upper limits” of the previous cost blow out contingencies on a dam far from complete the pressure on rates is going to be extremely uncomfortable for many. Some in Council are hanging their hat on the 3 water reforms by the Government going to be the golden ticket to solve all our money problems. I hear from members of the community that some Councillors and staff think it is as good as a done deal and they have already spent the Government’s windfall. The deputy Mayor thinks that debt won’t be a problem because of the 2% interest rates that are going to continue for the next ten years.

I pity all those loading themselves up with huge debt in the current housing market to get into their first home. Especially those in this region. A more-of-the-same Council has no intention of keeping your rates down.

The Long and Short of it

17/07/2021

Tasman District Council has locked in the new Long Term Plan (LTP) for the next ten years (reviewed in 3 years). It locks you in to more debt and more rate increases, which is interesting given that I ran against a deputy mayor with twenty years experience who publicly stated he believed he would keep us within the $200million debt cap and 3% rate increases. At the time, I said I didn’t see how we could given that the dam was still blowing out (as it still is) and the costs associated with pending Government reviews such as the three waters.

That is not the only time that I challenged fiscal wherewithal of our current leadership. I challenged the continued un-budgeted spending that this Council was approving early in the term when COVID was rearing its ugly head around the world. I was told by the Mayor that this council was “well informed of the likely impact of COVID.” Two weeks later the country was in level 4 lock down and a couple of weeks after that we were passing a zero percent rate increase for the year. If our leadership were so well informed, why were they still proposing and passing million dollar un-budgeted projects?

I railed against the constant haphazard proposals to accommodate the increasing staff numbers. For instance we hired a floor above the mall for staff. At the time staff were telling me that this was a temporary measure. I said that we would never shrink back, but the CEO assured me that we would once the rolling renovations were carried out in the TDC building.

The result of the accommodation review was that we need a completely new and updated building for staff. It was deemed to be an urgent requirement and we should get right on to it. So I tried to have funds allocated in the LTP that was just passed. Staff (and management) refused to allocate any funds in the consulted on LTP.

Why? Well because we did not have a quote.

Just like we don’t have a quote, or even a plan for the Million dollars of funding set aside for a regional boat launching facility.

Just like we don’t have a location or design for the Recreation Centre proposed for somewhere between Hope and Wakefield – but we do have funds allocated.

Just like a dam that we didn’t have a quote for but had (woefully inadequate) funds set aside in previous LTPs.

After we had consulted on the LTP and before we had even signed off on it, staff were back telling us about the urgency of the accommodation problem and how we need to start taking action because of “long lead times” and “Council reputation.” Even though the Government is about to remove much of Council’s responsibilities (and staff), and may even be about to amalgamate Councils with their big-is-better attitude.

One can only speculate that the real reason that we didn’t allocate funds for this imminently urgent project is that it would have pushed our LTP debt figure of the magic $300 million figure that is politically unpalatable (and might result in the appointment of a commissioner). Apparently, Mayor Kempthorne, had earlier proposed an LTP that reached similar heady spending heights, and was told it might be wiser to rein in spending. And a figure that starts to run into Government legislated debt cap ceiling issues.

Which draws me to the “Debt Cap” that we recently consulted on. Previously, we had a $200 million self
imposed debt cap. It was a figure well above the current debt levels of the day, and set to be a ceiling.
What we have now, is very different. Even though we use the same terminology of “debt cap.”

How is it different you might ask? Well, our current $280 million debt cap, knocked down to some $250 million by moving a bit of the debt into the Dam CCO (where we don’t have to include it in our figures), is not really a cap. Rather, it is a projected level of spend. Any future unbudgeted spend will automatically push this figure up. For example, unbudgeted spend like new staff accommodation.

A real debt cap, should not move because of the spending whims of a majority of councillors. Other unbudgeted spend that might occur – and has already occurred – is another Dam blow out. Already, we are up to the higher end of the most recent budget given by Waimea Water (the Dam company). The figures included in our consulted on LTP were at the middle to lower end of the forcasted budget. And let us not forget that we are only just over half way through the build, with COVID inflation likely to push up the cost of steel and imported materials – and without further “surprises” in the “bedrock”, that Mike Scott said was better than expected.

Speaking of inflation. Another example of how out-of-touch with global reality our management are: I tried to point out the cost to the ratepayers of the proposed level debt when interest rates go to 6% or 8 %. I was challenged by the deputy Mayor as to what they would be at 2% interest.

At $250 million (and doing some simple maths) its doesn’t take much of a shift in interest rates with such high debt, to affect rates. Amidst the round of chortling from the old-boy network for even thinking interest rates would go up, he retorted that he had information suggesting otherwise. I only hope its not the same advisor, who told him the Dam price was fixed?

In a world where global inflation is at levels not seen since the early 1980’s we apparently believe that interest rates will continue at 2% levels and not 1980’s levels. These are the same people “can’t be sure” that the dam will continue to overrun. Although, councilor Mailing would not take up my wager that the dam would not be built for the most recently forecast figure, which is surprising given how much higher that figure is than the $104 million that he publicly personally guaranteed he would ensure it would be built for (and on time) at the time of the last elections.

On the dam front: it is interesting to learn that the “shear zone” which is directly under the dam abutment is “not an earthquake faultline” according to Mr Kirby our head of engineering. I was asking Mike Scott if the shear zone is what a lay person might call an earthquake faultline. He said it was not, to which I suggested that begs the question of what the difference is. Mr Kirby gave a somewhat more detailed response defending the position that a shear zone is a small fracture caused by movement elsewhere (like one of the two faultlines either side of the dam). A shear zone is a small (in this case 5 meter wide by few hundred meters long) fracture, whereas a fault line stretches many miles.

Now whether we call it a fault line or not would appear to be semantics and headline damage control. What we have is a fracture caused by earth movement that sits right under the dam structure. If the ground moves again – along a fault line that is not this shear zone – what are the chances that this shear zone will respond by opening up more? Or perhaps there will be another shear zone near by that will open up – remember there is going to be an extraordinary amount of extra pressure here once the reservoir is filled. But of course I am no geologist. And maybe the concrete band aid we are applying will stop any future ground movement and the water will not flow out new cracks, nor will the dam crumble around a failing abutment during an earthquake.

I guess we should be reassured that the recently disgraced ex-MP Nick Smith cast his engineering trained eye over the site and said he could see no issues. He also guaranteed a bottle of win to those downstream of the dam in the event of a dam failure. Which I am sure is of great comfort to those down the valley.

It is also comforting to know that we are having an inquiry into the dam process that saw us go from a “P95” (95% certain to come in on or under budget) $75.9 million dam to a “good as fixed price” $104 million dam to a who-knows-where-we-will-end-up $million dam. As mentioned before, it already has gone up another $5 million (equating to $163 million) within a week of the LTP being signed off.

What is odd about the inquiry is that it only came about after much public noise. It was previously unsupported by council as a measure of good governance practice. How times can change. A few weeks can be a long time for some memories. █████████████████████████████████ █████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████

I voted against it. Which may seem to odd to those who heard me calling for it in the first place.

The scope of the inquiry is purely retrospective. There is no provision to investigate the current management and governance of the dam which is the only place that savings can potentially be found for the ratepayer. A retrospective inquiry can be held at any time, there is no urgency, and little to be gained on this project. Yes, it would be good to expose the decision making that got us in this position but what real-world governance would allow a project to overrun three times the P95 price only half way through the job without questioning the delivery?

Unfortunately, the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) was not interested in undertaking this inquiry either – according to staff advice on the day we voted. At least that is what we were told, until councillor Greening asked for confirmation of this position. Within a few days, staff were advising that the OAG might now be interested, and that staff would be seeking clarification. A few weeks later, and the OAG advised us that because council had undertaken their own review, an OAG review was not necessary. █████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████

On the bright side, John Palmer’s (ex-CEO of the bankrupted Solid Energy and man assuring us that the dam was going to be built to the P95) brother is involved in a review of Local Government. As quoted in a RNZ interview:

Review panel chair Jim Palmer said it was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to make a difference, but warned the decisions made were “not going to please everybody all of the time”.

We look forward to another 12 months of a more-of-the-same only more expensive Council.

More ████ More Debt

26/02/2021

You elected more of the same, and they delivered for you.

I ran for mayor against a deputy mayor with 20 years of experience that told the residents of Tasman that he believed he could keep within our debt cap and rates cap by making the hard decisions. At the time, I said I would like to think we could but I don’t see how it will be possible with a dam that is continuing to over-run and Government reform (such as the freshwater and three water reform) increasing our costs. Other elected members also claimed to want to stay within our fiscal caps.

The first 12 months of Council saw us spending millions of dollars of unbudgeted money, which alone sent us over our already maxed out debt cap of $200 million. Not a single debt control “hard decision” in sight.

Then along came the first of the dam overruns, taking our dam from ~~$75.9 Million~~ ~~$79 million~~ ~~$83 million~~ $104 million to $139 million.

How did we propose to keep all this under our debt cap?

Easy. We just inflation-adjusted out the debt cap and backdated the adjustment to the time of installation, and like magic, we were now under the debt cap again.

Awkwardly, the dam has overrun again just before we published our 10 year plan. Now we have to rewrite our 10 year plan to get it passed the auditors approval because the figures were horribly out-of-date.

What does our “debt cap” look like now?

First of all, let us stop using the lie that it is a debt cap. It is a projected level of debt figure. It is not a cap under the current Council. We will continue to adjust it upward to accommodate spending. There is absolutely no appetite around the table to cap spending at all.

Already, we are deliberately not including figures to house our rapidly increasing staff numbers (unless Government reform robs us of our duties and our staff – in which case they will have to be housed somewhere but it is not the Council’s problem?). We know that to solve the projected numbers of staff within the next 10 years we will have to spend a figure that will push us over $300 million in debt.

How do we intend to hide debt going forward?

I am pleased you asked.

We are concurrent with the Long Term Plan consulting on a proposal to create a holding company to amalgamate the Port and Airport under. Sounds pretty harmless?

The purpose of creating this new CCO is that we sell our shares in Port Nelson and the Nelson Airport to the bank. Much sneakier than the less politically palatable prospect of selling the shares directly. Once we have established the CCO we can move debt into the company and then for accounting purposes we don’t have to record it as debt on Council’s books.

Instantly, we can pay out special dividends to the Councils and load the new CCO with debt magically reducing our debt levels. I say magically because we haven’t reduced our debt, but we have reduced future dividends from the Port. Effectively, we have sold our shares to the bank.

I am sure the Council spin doctors will tell you a different story.

I tried to ask for some accountability within Council…

█████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████ This is a technical statistical term that has requirements to meet before you can use it. I asked to see the workings that enabled Council to use the term. My request was denied.

I also asked for accountability around the statement made to Councillors on the day the dam was signed off, in response to a question that I asked of what assurance do we have the dam will be built for $104 million given that we had a “P95” at $76 million. We were told that we are even more sure, “it is almost a fixed price contract” now. There was only a tiny portion that wasn’t fixed price and we had the “equivalent of 30% contingency” on the small amount that wasn’t fixed price.

Obviously, this was a case of my word verses others word as to what was said and the mayor wasn’t prepared to debate that, so again, there will be no accountability for fabrications told. I previously asked Mike Scott for an estimate of how much of the contract was actually fixed price. I have not been provided with that information.

Have we seen the last of the dam over-runs?

Based on the previous performance of Waimea Water and the irrigator run predecessor to Waimea Water, it is highly unlikely that the dam will be delivered for $164 million.

Meanwhile, back in the Council Chambers:

In the recent Council meeting, the Deputy Mayor moved a motion to reverse the decision that I had previously managed to get passed where the irrigators would be target rated for “their share” of all future cost overruns. The proposal now being consulted on has the ratepayer picking up even more of the irrigator share of the dam. Surprising that the people of Murchison and Tapawera are so supportive of this approach. But then I guess I shouldn’t be surprised because this is apparently also the view of Golden Bay and the majority of Motueka, Richmond, and part of the Moutere.

To illustrate the gross subsidization of the handful of irrigators that the Waimea Irrigation Dam was built for, the proposal that I had moved for consultation would see the rates being paid by irrigators on the Waimea Plains are almost identical to the water users downstream of the Kainui Dam.

Let’s put that in perspective. The Kainui Dam built some 15 years ago at a final cost of around $3 million dollars is costing the water users a similar amount to the projected cost of the Waimea Irrigation Dam (at the $139 million figure) if we target rate the users for “their share” of the costs. So not only would the Waimea water users not been paying any more than the users of a $3 million project, they wouldn’t even be paying for 15 years worth of inflation.

Your duly elected members think it unfair that the Waimea irrigators should even be paying more than the Kainui Dam water users. Therefore, they have proposed that we consult on a financial model whereby general rate-payers pick up all the overrun costs (both the current estimated extra $30 million blow-out and any future blow-out). Once the precedent is locked in, it will be in perpetuity.

In addition, I am informed by members of the community that the running costs of the dam that were well below a million dollars when we had a P95 $76 million dollar dam, and are now predicted to be $3 million a year, will likely be double that again by the time the dam is commissioned.

This information is of course coming from the same “naysayers” and “fear mongers” that said the geology of the dam site would mean costs would be far in excess of the P95 price that Council was touting. And despite Mike Scott’s assurances that they were on bedrock and there was bedrock plainly visible up the valley, it turns out to be more of a “moonscape” and has caused the budget to blowout again. Who is more reliable?

To summarise: we are consulting on a debt cap, that is not a debt cap but a debt target, of $280 million. It is a fabrication that does not reflect costs that we already know will push it over $300 million. We plan to hide more of that debt by selling our shares in the Port and Airport to the bank under a proposed new company structure. General rate-payers should subsidize the Waimea irrigators further because they can’t afford their almost free water. You haven’t seen the last of cost increases for the Waimea Irrigation Dam.

This is the choice you endorsed at the polls, and they have delivered for you.

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