Recently the Remuneration Authority increased the ratepayers funded remuneration pool for Tauranga City Council's elected members from $752,643 to $758,828 for the financial year ending 2012.
The Remuneration Authority calculates what the ratepayers funded pool for the salaries and expenses of our elected officials should be, based on the total expenditure, assets and apportions this to local population and rate change.
It's not difficult to see why our council is so keen to borrow money, then misuse it, and our rates, on projects that continually increase our debt and consequently leads to ongoing rate increases. Their annual increase has nothing what so ever, to do with how well the council manages our city.
The upshot of it all, it's a case of, more they spend, the greater their annual increase. Talk about having your cake and eating it.
Before our mayor and councillor's start putting their hands in the cookie jar, perhaps they should consider the stakeholders and deliver us some positive results.
Brian Porter, Welcome Bay.