Wellington ratepayers will have their rates bills hiked to cover a $3.43 million budgeting error. Responding to this, Wellington Ratepayers’ Alliance spokesperson James Ross said that “the incompetence at Wellington City Council is beyond belief.”

“On top of all the budgeting and contract management blunders unearthed by the recent Deloitte report, turns out Wellington City Council can’t even get people’s rates bills right. Does the council exercise any financial controls at all?”

“Council made the error, Council should wear it, and this is not an excuse to bilk ratepayers. There’s plenty of room for them to make savings before coming back to turn the ratepayer tap back back on.”

“The critical question is who is being held accountable? Apologies are cheap, and Mayor Andrew Little needs to take the opportunity to instil some consequences for failure into the culture at Wellington City Council.”