Andrew von Dadelszen Former Regional Councillor

In 2004 your regional council spent $32.6m in operating expenditure.

This rose to $47.3m in 2005, at which time Bill Bayfield was appointed CEO, with a clear mandate to restructure the organisation, and make substantive efficiency gains (i.e. to cut costs).

Bay of Plenty Regional Council, through its Finance Committee Meeting Report this week, is expecting the 2012-13 operating expenses to come in at $94m (a 99 per cent increase in operating costs, or 12.4 per cent increase every year). Staff costs alone are now over $40m, and when you add the consultancy costs equate to the entire operating spend of 2005. When compared to 2004 (when operating expenditure was just $32.6m) the increase looks even more bleak (an increase of 188 per cent, or 21 per cent annually). So much for turning our regional council from 'good to great.”

To be fair, the council has stepped up, with a huge commitment to both public transport and the clean-up of the Rotorua Lakes. Fortuitously the Port of Tauranga dividends that the regional council receives (via its CCO - Quayside Holdings Limited) have risen from $14m in 2005 to $24m this year; which has softened the pain for ratepayers.

I have to put my hand up, in that for six of those years I was a regional councillor, and while I fought hard for efficiency gains, I was often very much in the minority. When I left as a regional councillor the 2010 operating costs were $59m - not good when compared to $32.6m in 2004 – but still well below the current projection of $94m. What I ask is - what have we got for the extra $35m a year spent? I just can't see it. All I can say is thank goodness that Central Government is reforming the Local Government Act to restrict what councils do. The four well beings have just proved an excuse to spend, spend, spend. Mary-Anne McLeod, our relatively new regional council CEO, is a very bright lady, and her challenge is to get some bottle and reign in this ongoing out of control spending.

If you have a view on these or any other local government issues, I invite you to email me: andrew@vond.co.nz or visit www.vond.co.nz