IRC 8666 Chris McCashin WCC and debt re IRC 8452.pdf

31 July 2025

File Ref: IRC-8666

Chris McCashin
[FYI request #30954 email]

Tēnā koe Chris,

Thank you for your email dated 29 June 2025 to Te Kaunihera o Pōneke | Wellington City Council (the
Council) requesting the following information:

1.  Please also provide WCC total debt to include:

a.  Debt to LGFA
b.  Other borrowings - total amount & who it has been borrowed from
c.  Can you provide total debt of CCOs on Wel ington City Council letterhead
d.  Can you confirm if CCOs are included in Wellington City Council debt limit and provide
debt limit calculations including and excluding CCOs
e.  Total interest paid 1st Quarter this financial year March-June

Can you also provide the fol owing

f.  since 2015 rates affordability benchmark versus actual increased rates
g.  since 2015 debt affordability benchmark versus actual borrowings for the year

Your request has been considered under the Local Government Of icial Information and Meetings Act
1987 (LGOIMA).

Question 1 - Please also provide WCC total debt to include:

a.  Debt to New Zealand Local Government Funding Agency (LGFA)
As at 30 June 2025, the total gross borrowings that the Council has with the LGFA is $1.83b.

b.  Other borrowings - total amount & who it has been borrowed from

As at 30 June 2025, excluding the above borrowings with the LGFA, the Council has $86m of short-
term commercial paper debt with BNZ, ANZ and Westpac.

c.  Can you provide total debt of Council Controlled Organisations (CCO) on Wellington City
Council letterhead

In regard to this part of your request above, I’d like to refer to your previous request logged under
reference number IRC-8452, which asked a similar question, and please refer to our response to
question d.

Question 3 - Can you also include al  the Wellington CCO's and their debt as fol ows:

a) Name of the CCO
b) Total Debt associated with the CCO
c) Al  of the debt amounts

My response to you, dated 30 May 2025 on Council letterhead, provided links to publicly available
information on each Control ed entities debt (borrowings/loan to the extent they have any) which could
be found in their respective Statement of Financial Position in their published Financial Statements.
Within these links provided are ful  copies of their Annual Reports (including financial statements) from
their respective websites. I refer you to this response.

d.  Can you confirm if CCOs are included in Wellington City Council debt limit and provide debt
limit calculations including and excluding CCOs

The Council does have borrowings relating to its CCO’s and it is included within our debt to revenue
calculations. However, this is not information that we can provide as Council doesn’t borrow on a
project-by-project basis, it borrows to fund the capital programme as a whole. We do not have specific
ring-fenced debt for our CCO’s; therefore, this part of your request has been refused under section
17(g) of the LGOIMA because the requested information is not held.

e.  Total interest paid 1st Quarter this financial year March-June

The net interest costs for the Council for quarter four of the 24-25 financial year (April -June) is $15m.

f)  since 2015 rates affordability benchmark versus actual increased rates
g)  since 2015 debt affordability benchmark versus actual borrowings for the year

This part of your request has been assessed and the decision to refuse this has been made under
17(d) of the LGOIMA as the information request is publicly available.

The information requested is captured within the “Financial Prudence” section of our Annual Reports,
which include graphs displaying the rates affordability and debt affordability benchmarks. Below are
some links to this information:

•  Annual Report 2023/24 Volume 2– from page 128
•  Annual Report 2023/24 Volume 2 – from page 128
•  Annual Report 2022/23 – Volume 2 – from page 130

Further information relating to the Council’s Annual Reports can be found here.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you for you for taking on board the feedback provided in our
previous correspondences with you. The clarity, focus and tone of your request is appreciated.

You have the right, by way of complaint under section 28(1) of the LGOIMA, to request an
investigation and review of the Council’s decision to withhold information by the Ombudsman.
Information about how to make a complaint is available at www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or
freephone 0800 802 602.

If you require further information, please contact [Wellington City Council request email].

Nāku noa, nā

Wel ington City Council   | 2 of 3

Ol ie Marchant
Senior Advisor
Of icial Information & Privacy
Wellington City Council
Wel ington City Council | 3 of 3