New Plymouth mayor Neil Holdom is calling for an independent review into the way roads are funded in New Zealand, saying something must be done before the network gets worse.
Neil Holdom has suggested borrowing to fund road projects. Photo: RNZ / Robin Martin
He said the present system was broken and must change.
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency funds state highways, but local roads are paid for by councils and sometimes, money from the $16 billion National Land Transport Fund.
It's a three-year funding round all councils want a slice of, but Holdom said this way of allocating money wasn't fit for purpose.
Transport minister Michael Wood didn't support Holdom's call for a wide-ranging review, and said officials were looking at ways to fund transport in the future, such as making electric vehicles pay their share.
Holdom wanted Waka Kotahi to take a longer term view to avoid a situation where ratepayers had to fork out even more to keep local roads up to scratch, or critical maintenance was deferred.
He suggested borrowing to fund projects, with payments stretched over time.
"At the moment, essentially, the government looks at what's available in road-user charges and fuel tax, and that will have to do.
"They use that not just for funding maintenance, but for funding those major capital projects like Transmission Gully and some of the investments in Auckland, and it's just not sustainable."
Holdom was asking other councils back his bid to seek an independent review of what he said was a broken national funding model.
He wanted to discuss the matter at the Local Government New Zealand annual general meeting in July.
"We all know that if we don't maintain things they decline and that's really what's happened across the country.
"We need to resolve this and we need to look for that cross-party solution, recognising that our transport infrastructure is too important to be allowed to fail."
Councils make 10-year plans and annual spending budgets, but these are subject to change depending on that national funding.
On top of that, government policy statements set the overall direction of the transport system.
Hauraki mayor Toby Adams supported Holdom's call for change.
"Local councils and central government have been stuck in a funding model that's been around for a long time and there hasn't been a real shift, but we have seen a real drop in quality of product.
"That definitely comes down to funding and the funding levels, so we really need to have a bit of a rethink if we're going to futureproof our roading."
Hamilton mayor Paula Southgate distanced herself from some of Holdom's criticisms.
But the way transport was funded had to be in sync with the needs of growing cities and government policies, such as increasing public transport, she said.
"When we have that one fund it's like a bucket of water, and you're dipping your ladle in for some funding. Everyone's getting their scoop from the bucket.
"It doesn't align very well with what we need to do."
In a statement, Waka Kotahi said it worked closely with organisations across New Zealand to allocate funding in line with government priorities such as climate change and improved freight connections.
Demand for transport funding was greater than ever and the agency was supporting the transport ministry in reviewing the funding regime.
Wood said he wasn't surprised at the timing of Holdom's call for change.
"I do expect local government leaders, in a local government election year, to call for more money for their regions. That's par for the course.
"But, of course, ultimately that will mean more having to be paid through [fuel excise duty] and [road user charges], and I don't hear the same call from local government there," he said.
"There's no free lunch here... The system is mainly funded through fuel excuse duty and road-user charges, so people who are calling for more money going into the system need to be honest that that's where it comes from."