15 May 2012

Auckland Council should not spend ratepayer funds on finding jobs for unemployed youth.

It is not the role of local councils to spend ratepayers funds to become involved in finding jobs for unemployed youth.

At a time when rate rises of 10% are going to hit up to a third of Auckland’s ratepayers it is irresponsible for the Mayor to start new initiatives which add to council’s costs.

The funding for the Youth Connections programme from the Tindall Foundation and the Auckland Airport Community Trust is a generous intervention by those philanthropic organisations.

The Auckland Council is not a philanthropic organisation.

In delegating this job-finding exercise to Local Boards the Mayor is simply laying the foundation for another branch of bureaucracy to set up the programme, issue reports, hold consultations and all the other red-tape councils love to indulge in.

Employment issues are essentially a Government responsibility funded from taxes, and councils must not use ratepayer funds in getting involved in those issues.

The Government has already indicated that it is to bring in legislation to restrict councils non-core activities by introducing new fiscal responsibility measures.

Auckland Council should set a new standard by resisting the temptation to get involved in every aspect of government, and restrict itself to providing and maintaining services and projects which have public support, and do not lead to unaffordable rates increases.

ends

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