The Mayor of Auckland is urging the government to allow the Auckland Council to keep the GST paid on rates as a way of boosting revenue.
Phil Goff wants the Auckland Council to be able to keep the GST paid on rates. Photo: RNZ / Diego Opatowski
Phil Goff said the council didn't have the revenue sources it needed to pay for the city's infrastructure needs.
He said he was looking forward to talking to whoever was in the next government about what could be done to improve the council's financial position.
Mr Goff told TVNZ's Q + A that allowing the council to keep GST paid on rates would be an easy solution.
He said it could provide a new source of revenue for councils around the country.
"Revenue sharing between central and local government, you know what the government did in 2010 is that it created the equivalent of a state in Australian terms, but it never gave it a revenue base."
