Hike in water bills next on list for Auckland

The cost of a hot bath and watering the garden is set to rise 50 per cent over the next 10 years to pour more money into the Auckland City Council's cash-hungry coffers.

The council has nearly finalised plans to squeeze about $280 million over the next decade from its water company, Metrowater, which will require higher water bills and scrapping a policy requiring the company to only make a modest profit.

The new, hard-nosed approach to Metrowater means average water bills will rise from $800 to $1200 a year in 10 years. It comes on top of a forecast 135 per cent rates rise for households over the same period.

The council has budgeted to receive $50 million from Metrowater over the next decade. It now wants the company to borrow more, to provide the council with another $50 million, and raise prices by about 5 per cent a year for a further $180 million.

In a money go-round, the council will use payments from Metrowater for stormwater projects and the money that now goes into stormwater will be siphoned into other council budgets.

Green Party councillor Neil Abel has called it a "smoke and mirrors" exercise, the purpose of which was to avoid further rises in rates which are to increase by 13.3 per cent for households this year.

Mr Abel said Metrowater's profits were taxed at 33 per cent before the council received a dividend. If water and wastewater charges were brought back under council control, the council would not have to pay tax, he said.

Metrowater is a sore point in the council's City Vision-Labour group, which has a policy to "replace wastewater charges with payment through general rates".

Mr Abel, Dr Cathy Casey, Leila Boyle and Glenda Fryer have tried to get the policy adopted but failed to get support from political colleagues, including leader Dr Bruce Hucker.

Dr Hucker last week acknowledged wastewater charges took proportionately more money out of the pockets of lower-income people, but said putting them back under council control would see a 30 per cent rates rise.