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What is the Department of Internal Affairs' estimate of the difference in the level of water-related debt transferred, and in the resulting charges to consumers, arising from the asset-value methodology used by Wellington metropolitan councils compared with the capital-investment methodology used by other councils?

Answered Question 33184 (2026)
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Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

Question

  • What is the Department of Internal Affairs' estimate of the difference in the level of water-related debt transferred, and in the resulting charges to consumers, arising from the asset-value methodology used by Wellington metropolitan councils compared with the capital-investment methodology used by other councils?

Answered by

Hon Simon Watts

Member for North Shore · National Party · Minister of Local Government

Answer

Where a water organisation is being established, each council determines their own methodology to transfer water-related debt into that water organisation reflecting local choice about balance sheet structure and intergenerational funding. Assessment of water services delivery plans focussed on the financial sustainability of proposed water organisations based on projected revenue, costs and financing arrangements, not on the methods used to transfer debt.