Waitomo District Council is disappointed that the Three Waters Reform Programme public information released by the Department of Internal Affairs on 30 June is misleading.

The information was developed and released to the public to show the potential impacts of the three waters reform on local authorities and Councils across New Zealand.

Regrettably, the public information as publicised says that WDC has zero debt for the three waters infrastructure. The fact is that Council has a $26m debt.

Waitomo District Mayor John Robertson said that WDC supplied the correct information, however the information published on Council’s debt is wrong.

“Council staff worked diligently on the RfI and supplied the correct information in good faith," he said.

“The public information is factually incorrect. It says Council has zero debt, when it should say $26m. We are currently seeking for this to be corrected by the DIA.”

General Manager Business Support Alister Duncan said there are three sections in the RfI where Council recorded its debt for three waters, yet somehow this information has been misreported.

“When comparing to other Councils’ dashboards, we became aware other Councils also have similar issues.

“It is important that our community has confidence in the portrayal of Council’s situation so it is imperative that the dashboard is updated, even though this change will have little effect on the final analysis of Waitomo District Council’s position.”

Waitomo District Council’s dashboard contains an error in the Debt to Revenue section. It should say Council has a debt of $26m, not $0m as reflected.