'Money gouging' councils need to cut costs

Councils are being told they will need to slash costs and get rid of staff, when the results of the inquiry into local government spending come out.

The report is due later this month, but hints at what it will say have already begun circulating.

David Thornton of NoMoreRates.com says councils have been warned they are inefficient in the way they budget.

He says some council wage bills are up by as much as 50 percent, and ratepayers are wondering what they are getting for their money.

He says local government has become a money-gouging monster that has got out of hand.

David Thornton says local bodies have been inventing jobs to keep themselves in jobs.

- NEWSTALK ZB