Phil Twyford says 10 cent Auckland fuel tax will be in place by July

Tuesday, 21 November 2017

The price of fuel is set to increase in Auckland to help fund a raft of transport projects, including light rail from the CBD to the airport.

Aucklanders can expect to pay 10 cents more at the pump by July 1, 2018, Transport Minister Phil Twyford says.

The regional fuel tax has been requested by Auckland Council to help fill its transport funding deficit.

Transport Minister Phil Twyford told RNZ the legislation for the fuel tax would be passed within 'the next few months'.

Mayor Phil Goff has previously welcomed the introduction of the tax, saying the city had to 'pay its share' in developing 'desperately needed' projects.

Those include a light rail link between the CBD and the airport.

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A spokesman for Twyford's office said the government aimed for the tax to be in place by July 1.

It was 'working towards' getting the legislation passed to bring the tax in, but there was no set timeframe for that change as yet, he said.

Twyford told RNZ he would make passing the legislation a priority.

'The critical thing I know for Auckland Council is they are currently preparing their budget for their long term plan and they need some certainty around that.'

Twyford told RNZ that would allow the council to drop its interim transport levy of $114 per household.

The three-year measure was intended to fill transport funding coffers before other revenue came in.

Goff has previously said a fuel tax was effective, cheap, and easy to administer.

'It will help ensure that Auckland can pay its share of the nearly $27 billion expenditure on transport infrastructure over the next 10 years.

'Without this level of investment our rapidly growing population will worsen congestion on our roads with mounting costs from frustration and lost productivity.'

However, Mangere Budgeting and Family Support chief executive Darryl Evans said the city's poorest families would be among those hit hardest by the tax.

Poorer families tended to live in the southern and westernmost suburbs and faced the longest commutes to jobs, he said.