Taxpayers' Union Repeats Call for Rates Capping After Tauranga Council Drops $67.7k for Graphics on One Bus Stop
Jordan Kelly • 24 June 2025

PRESS RELEASE JUST IN FROM NEW ZEALAND TAXPAYERS' UNION

The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union can reveal through a Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act request that Tauranga City Council has spent a total of $67,739 on decorative artwork for a single bus stop with $50,000 or 73.8 percent of the cost on design alone.

Taxpayers’ Union Investigations Co-ordinator, Rhys Hurley, said:

“This is another case of councils treating ratepayers like an open chequebook. Nearly $70,000 on a single piece of bus stop art is absurd.”

“You could buy a new car for what they spent on artwork at a bus stop. Worse still, most of it went on ‘design’ not materials, not installation, but presumably someone sketching it out at a desk.”

"All this comes the same week the Council also celebrated the opening of its brand-new $45 million headquarters, as residents brace for a 9.9 percent rates rise." 

“The pattern is clear: the culture of waste will continue until councils are forced to live within their means. We need Rates Capping Now!"

____________________________________________


IN OTHER LOCAL GOVERNMENT COVERAGE:


SHAME, Tararua District Council:  The Story They Thought I Wouldn't Survive to Tell (Part One)


Other News, Reviews & Commentary

by Jordan Kelly 27 July 2026
Fellow Pet Owners & Followers of the Harry Kelly Case . . . and the Collusive Machinations of the Veterinary Sector’s ‘Regulatory’ Environment
by Jordan Kelly 19 July 2026
This Is Harry. Remember His Face, Massey, You Bastards.
by Jordan Kelly 19 July 2026
Jodie Banner, the Information is the Information. Who Do You Need to 'Consult' With, Have It Sanitised By, Re-Engineered By, Strategised By, or Created By, Before You Finally Release Something to Me?
by Jordan Kelly 17 July 2026
The Multiple Hidden Liabilities in Every Massey Referral: What Vets and Pet Owners Need to Know
by Jordan Kelly 15 July 2026
Massey University Council Members: Ya'll Look So Happy. Do You Care that Your 'Massey-Happiness' Certainly Doesn't Extend to those Paying for Your Institution's 'Services'?
by Jordan Kelly 6 July 2026
Is VCNZ Running A Protection Racket to (a) Cover for Licensed Staff It's Mandated to Hold Accountable, or (b) Cover for A Major Veterinary 'Hospital' Operating Its ICU with NO Qualified Veterinarians on its Evening Shifts and Night Shifts, or (c) BOTH? One Month Later . . . VCNZ Won't Answer and Nor Will Massey . . . So What Does that Indicate?
by Jordan Kelly 6 July 2026
Public & Donor Megafunds Not Spent on Fixing the Root Cause of Massey's Veterinary Practices and Ethics Problems. No, No. Spent Working Out How to Shut Me Up About What They Did to My Dog . . . So Other Pet Owners Don't Learn What Goes On At Its 'Companion Animal Hospital'
by Jordan Kelly 4 July 2026
MORAL INJURY OR EQUALLY EVIL? Massey Vet Students on December 1: Were You Deceived . . . or Participants In the Deception? (PART ONE)
by Jordan Kelly 29 June 2026
' Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. ' - Margaret Mead (And with zero doubt, what's going on at Massey University's Companion Animal 'Hospital' Needs A World of Urgent Change . . . to Stop More Pets Being Subjected to Huxley's House of Veterinary Horrors )
by Jordan Kelly 18 June 2026
Bypassing Managerial Stonewalling at AVBC, AVMA & RCVS to Alert Accreditors' Directors of their Directorial Liability Obligations
Show More