The cost of “free” swimming pools

Bernard Orsman at the NZ Herald reports:

Auckland Mayor Len Brown wants ratepayers to believe free entry to the city’s 24 swimming pools will cost $5.5 million when it cost $6.7 million to provide free entry to six swimming pools when he was mayor of Manukau City.

Mr Brown is relying on a study by the international consultancy KPMG, which arrived at the $5.5 million figure on the assumption that there would be no change in patronage and operating costs and increased revenue from things such as spas, saunas, icecreams and chips.

Despite the assumptions, Mr Brown has included the $5.5 million figure in the draft long-term budget, which includes four options for funding swimming pools.

This is massively misleading, to project a cost for 24 free pools to be less than the cost for six.

The assumption of no increase in patronage, if entry is free, is absolutely daft. KPMG should be ashamed to put their name to such a work, unless they were instructed by the client to make that assumption.