Andrew Bydder: They Are Out of Control

Councils are out of control. Not just Hamilton City, but across the Waikato. The truth is in the numbers. On Three Waters alone, they have collectively projected $7.5 billion in costs over the next decade. Divided across the Waikato population of 320,000, that is $23,438 per person.

But a quarter of that population live in rural areas with their own water tanks and septic systems, who rightly won’t be paying for services that they don’t have. This leaves the figure for a typical family of four in our towns and city at a crippling $125,000.

Can you afford that?