No reduction in fees for Franklin

The Herald published a story on 18 May trumpeting a reduction in fees for a variety of Council services (including dog registration and building fees) when the Auckland Council takes over on 1 November. Underneath the table used to promote the new fees it said, “*The Council fees exclude Franklin District due to its small size and lack of data”.

Franklin Mayor, Mark Ball was dismayed at the inaccurate information published and said “the facts are, Franklin District’s fees and charges are fully available in our Fees and Charges Manual and if size was an issue, why was Papakura (which is considerably smaller than Franklin) included in the calculations? The truth is that most of Franklin’s fees and charges are lower than those being touted for the new Auckland Council, and Franklin people will actually be paying more, and in some cases a lot more. The table below speaks for itself.”

Here is the table including Franklin’s fees and charges:

“Where are the savings for Franklin residents? – most of whom don’t want to be part of Auckland” asks Mayor Ball.