Jordan Williams: Wayne Brown's $235m annual City Rail Link cost 'absolute nonsense'

On Monday, Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown revealed his plan for a 7.9% rates increase to pay for City Rail Link running costs of an estimated $235 million annually. 

This is the largest rate rise since Auckland Council was formed in 2010.

Questions have begun arising of the legitimacy of Wayne Browns calculation of City Rail Link's projected running costs.

Auckland Ratepayers Alliance spokesperson Jordan Williams told Heather du Plessis-Allan, "you're entitled to your own opinion or your political strategy, but you're not entitled to your own facts. And the facts are Auckland Transport have have called this out as being absolute nonsense."

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now you will have caught the news last night. Auckland
Mayor Wayne Brown says that if the government puts in
a rates cap, the City Rail Link won't have any
trains or drivers. He says, the council has to pay
for the CRL and that's why Auckland residential rates are
going up by seven point nine percent next year. However,
some people are calling bs on that number. Auckland rate
Payers Alliance spokesperson Jordan Williams is with us.

Speaker 2 (00:19):
Now, Hi, Jordan, get a header.

Speaker 1 (00:21):
Okay, So he says, got to raise rates by this
much to pay for it. What do you say, Well,
it's a ruz.

Speaker 2 (00:28):
He said that the cost of running it is a
million dollars a day, but if you listen to walk
and transport, it's nonsense on stilts. They work it out.
Once you factor in the projected income from the increased
patronage and fear revenue, it's fifty three million, half of
which is covered by NZTA. That leads a shortfall of
two hundred and sixty million annually, certainly not anywhere near

(00:51):
what Wayne Brown is trying to use to justify a
record seven point nine percent rate hike that he is
proposing even that's that's even worse than anything for golf
or len Brown gave the super city, and he's saying
there's an additional fifty million dollar hole which takes you
up to a nine point nine percent rate hike. We're

(01:12):
sounding the alarm, are you?

Speaker 1 (01:14):
Is that for real rate? Is he hiking rates by
more than than his predecessors when he is the guy
who apparently was going to keep rates low.

Speaker 2 (01:23):
It's unbelievable. Only a few months ago, Wayne Brown was
out there saying I'm not going to hike rates any
more than one and a half percent above inflation. So
that gets you pretty much bang on to where the
government said they're going to cap rates. And yet yesterday
he's out there timing his announcement to harpoon. The government
seems to be back in the labor parties camp, or

(01:45):
at least with al jen z Ed to try to
undermine the government's good effort to cap rates. This was
the guy we elected to get council costs under control.
Has you know the costs under his stewards have gone
up far to live twenty and a half percent versus
seven percent inflation cumulative since he was elected into office

(02:09):
and now he's about to deliver a rates increase. Horror
is proposing higher than anything Wayne.

Speaker 1 (02:16):
Lenen Round or Phil.

Speaker 2 (02:18):
Goff delivering the most is extraordinary YouTube.

Speaker 1 (02:22):
Is this the old negotiating tactic. It's the opening gambit
and it comes back from there.

Speaker 2 (02:27):
Well maybe that's okay, but you know, you're entitled to
your own opinion or your or your political strategy, but
you're not entitled to your own facts. And the facts
are Auckland Transport have called this out as being absolute nonsense.
It is not a million dollars a day. It is
twenty six millions across the whole year. It doesn't justify

(02:51):
a massive rates increase. What's really driving this is that
since Wayne Brown sacked Marris Williamson as the head of
his finance can and put in Desley Simpson, they haven't
found the savings that he promised, and what we are
now seeing is a catch up mode to raid Auckland
or pick Auckland rate payers pockets to fill that gap.

(03:14):
We're going to call it out.

Speaker 1 (03:16):
Good on you. Now, let me just get something straight.
So what he so the cost of running the CURL
represents about a one percent rates increase.

Speaker 3 (03:22):
Yeah, well, he's saying it it's many times more than that,
but I'm going to read to you your calculations are, well,
this is what this is literally on the public record
and stuff from Auckland Transport. They say that the costs
are approximate sixty three million then for the additional operations,
network access and maintenance. But when you factor in the

(03:44):
increased patronage and fear revenue, that takes you down to
fifty three million. Half of that is NZTA's share, so
that leads just twenty six million for Wayne Brown to find,
which shouldn't be that hard.

Speaker 1 (03:58):
Jordan, Thank you, appreciate you so mate. That's Jordan Williams,
Auckland Ratepayers Allow Alliance spokesperson.

Speaker 2 (04:03):
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