An apology to Kaipara ratepayers by the Auditor-General has fuelled calls for her office to help repay their council's debt.
Lyn Provost faced an irate crowd of more than 200 people in Mangawhai on Tuesday to deliver the results of her inquiry into the financial fiasco and to apologise.
Auditor General Lyn Provost. Photo: RNZ
Ms Provost told the meeting that she was sorry some of the work done for Kaipara District Council by government auditors was not up to standard.
Her report found the council's poor management and governance had allowed the cost of the Mangawhai sewerage project to spiral out of control - from $35 million to $63 million.
Ratepayers at the meeting told the Auditor-General if her office had done its job properly that would not have happened .
She was told if she had liability insurance she should make a claim on it, and make a contribution to Kaipara ratepayers.
Ms Provost said she and her audit staff do carry professional liability insurance but it's the job of the courts and Parliament to determine remedies.
It has taken the Auditor-General's investigators 20 months to find out exactly how the Kaipara Council made such a mess of the town's sewerage scheme.
They found no evidence of fraud or criminal actions. But they did find a litany of incompetent decisions by management and councillors.
The decision to expand the Ecocare sewerage scheme and borrow more money were made in closed workshops - not open meetings.
Ms Provost said there were failures at every stage of the project: poor governance; poor advice from chief executive Jack McKerchar; poor communication with ratepayers and poor budgeting.
But despite the Auditor-General's diligence in ferreting out the financial history of the sewerage scheme, it was the admitted failings of Audit New Zealand that angered the ratepayers at the meeting.
Mangawhai ratepayers said they can't be held liable for loans to which they never consented and they will test that in the High Court in February and they said the commissioners now running Kaipara Council should seek a negotiated settlement with the Auditor-General.
