Reports on Sunlive about Kaipara Council recently highlight the huge financial consequences are at an advanced stages of coming home to roost!
The project in Kaipara Sewerage Project was based on the same growth assumptions and not enough reality. The consequence for Tauranga is most likely the same
The misfortune for the previously content citizens of Kaipara has been rocked to the foundations then they received notice of the next years likely rate increases, some as much as 1300% (i.e. $6,400 to $85,000pa). The project in Kaipara ($80m cost, $35m over budget) is significantly smaller than Tauranga's Southern Pipeline & Te Maunga Plant upgrade plans which have already increased from $19m in 2004 to close to $300m in 2011.
This will all be funded by debt and the plan to date is that subdivision and building fees will pay it all off, yeah right!
But with the drop in growth (ratepayers paid $8m+ to Smart Growth and it is all proved to be horribly wrong) and building activity. TCC have even reduced these fees recently (trying to stimulate the payment of more fees?) the chances of it being repaid as planned will likely fail, especially that more houses will need to be built to get the same building fee income to pay off an increasing debt.
The only outcome here is that the debt will fall upon ratepayers and rates will have to increase significantly sooner or later.

I Stevenson, Tauranga.