An Auckland mayoral candidate's calling for the council to be held to account over a report of a multi-million-dollar building blowout.
The New Zealand Herald says repairs to the council's new Albert St headquarters could now cost around $31 million - a huge leap from the original projection of $4 million.
Former ASB building (Auckland Council)
Victoria Crone says it's unacceptable to dump ratepayers with such a large increase."The council have to take accountability for this, they have purchased the building. As part of purchasing the building absolutely you have to do due diligence to make sure you know what you're buying, and it looks like that process hasn't been done properly."
Auckland mayoral candidate Mark Thomas says the council doesn't help itself "when it tries to bury these debates in private", and calls for the meeting to be made public.
"There is no reason why a discussion on why this has happened and what the next steps are can't be had in public, and that's what I have asked for.
"The public has a right to know what other options are being considered before ratepayers fork out 25 percent more again than the original purchase price."
Mr Thomas says council officers should be considering how robust the advice about the state of the building is, a range of repair options and contribution council can seek from the previous owner of the building.
Councillors will discuss the building repairs at a closed meeting on Tuesday.
Newshub.
