Democracy HQ A personal view, by Councillor Steve Morris

In the middle of a pandemic, one organisation has managed not just to survive, but grow. It increased its revenue so much that it has been able to afford a 30 per cent increase in annual staff salaries from $67m to $88m.

Consultants have benefited from a whopping 79 per cent increase in the annual consultancy budget from $15.8m to $28.3m. How did the organisation grow its revenue so it could afford to splash out like this? It was easy, that organisation is Tauranga City Council and they increased your rates bill by 15 per cent last year and will increase it another 13 per cent this year.

Tauranga already had the highest residential rates of any of the major cities in New Zealand and the last 12 months have seen some households squeezed to the pips as a result of Covid. The last thing they needed was to fund a record council salary and consultancy bloat. You wouldn't mind paying a little extra in salaries for exceptional performance but the last 12 months have seen the most astonishing cost blowouts ever recorded in Tauranga.

Let's talk about Cameron Road, the project that has the distinction of putting both environmentalists and motorists up in arms. It has blown out 66 per cent from $45m to $74.5m and is climbing.

Elizabeth St has blown out 39 per cent from $8.7m to $12.1m; Omanawa Falls access is now $2.7m over budget; and a skatepark that hasn't even got off the drawing board yet has blowout by 200 per cent or $1.38m.

How do we put an end to this budget craziness? Firstly, stop rewarding poor performance with more money. Consultants that advised on the projects above should never be used again. Secondly, attract senior executives from the private sector who know how to stick to a budget and operate in a world with financial consequences. As ratepayers, we'd have to pay more for top salaries but we'd save so much more in budget blowouts.

Editor's note: Tauranga City Council last week responded to the budget blowout claims made in this column in an article with Sunlive. Readers can see the Council's full response online at: https://sunlive.co.nz/news/287125-council-hits-back-at-budget-blowout-claims.html