Vinsen uses information act to beat council gag

Laurel Stowell | 8th February 2010

District councillor Rob Vinsen was forced to use the Official Information Act to get information about his own council's financial doings.

Cr Vinsen told the Chronicle he had resorted to that action because he had to ask Mayor Michael Laws' permission before speaking to the council's financial officers.

Since being elected to the council in a by-election in mid-2008, Cr Vinsen, a local businessman, has taken a particular interest in the council's financial affairs and has concerns about about "a number of trends" in that area.

He believes that keeping rates artificially low will result in pain for future ratepayers who have to make up the shortfall.

He said little and often was the best policy for local body rate rises and described the nil rate rise regime as "a straight political gimmick".

"Every time you have a nil rate increase, you just compound it for future years."

He said it cost about $20 million a year to keep the council's infrastructure up to scratch.

"But we're averaging spending something like $14 million a year. This will place the council under considerable pressure in the future."

The difference could be made up by borrowing, rates increases or asset sales.

By the end of 2007 the council had sold $4 million worth of assets, the biggest one being the Quay School of the Arts site, sold to Ucol. But Cr Vinsen said anything sold more recently would  have brought in only a few hundred thousand dollars and there was not much left to sell. Buying the rest of the shares in Wanganui Gas had added debt to the council.

It had borrowed $8 million to buy the shares and was now paying interest on that. Meanwhile, Wanganui Gas was not returning the dividend expected, he said.

"It has proved to be a most unwise move."

Another future cost Mr Vinsen said was not appearing in the council books at present was an estimated $20 million needed to strengthen council buildings against earthquakes.

"It's been pushed out past 2019, so that it doesn't appear in this [10-year] plan, but it will have to be addressed at some stage."

Cr Vinsen was also not confident the council's debt projections would prove accurate.

 In 2005 debt was predicted to peak at $53million.

The projected peak had now grown to $89million.

This year, Cr Vinsen estimated each average Wanganui property owed $3821 worth of council debt and paid $289 toward servicing it.

There was nothing wrong with debt, he said, but it had to be spread fairly across the generations.

On the matter of council policy preventing councillors from talking directly with council officers, Cr Vinsen said it was "a policy that restricts councillors in doing what they're elected for".

• When the Chronicle asked the council for information on the issues raised by Cr Vinsen, Mayor Michael Laws  said his council would publish all such information in its "pre-election fiscal update" and in its draft annual plan. The plan is due in March but the pre-election update will come out just six weeks before the October local body election.