Editorial: Sound leadership needed on debt

Many ratepayers will be pleased by the news Tauranga City councillors have voted to take a pay cut.

The council yesterday debated how it would divvy up a pool of money set aside for additional responsibilities, such as the chairing of a committee.

Instead of potentially tapping into the full $104,000 pool of money, calculated on one-and-a-half times a base councillor's salary, the council has more than halved the old margins paid for additional responsibilities.

The savings on rates will drop the deputy mayor's current salary from $84,000 to $71,500 - effectively meaning the deputy's job will be worth $5000 more than the basic councillor's pay.

Instead of the current rate of $81,200 for a committee chairman, the new rate will be capped at $2000 more than a basic councillor's pay.

The new chairman's rate of $71,500 was $5000 less than what they could have received under the authority's formula.

The basic councillor's pay drops from $74,200 to $69,500 while the authority has slightly increased the mayor's salary. The new pay rates take effect after the council elections in October.

We know the council's debt is now more than $400 million.

It has clocked up $60 million debt on Route K alone and has been desperate to rid itself of Route K for years and the New Zealand Transport Agency has always rejected taking ownership if it included the debt.

The ramifications of projects such as Route K - and the ongoing costs associated with it - rightly concern ratepayers.

The pay cuts will do little to put the council back in the black - and the decision does come just months out from local body elections - but it does send a message to ratepayers that they are willing to make some sacrifices to right the ship.

But obviously it will do nothing to solve the long-term financial issues facing the city.

Only sound leadership and sensible decision-making will resolve those issues.