ALEXANDRA RATEPAYER BILLED $400 FOR 'STRATEGIC VIBES' — COUNCIL SAYS IT'S 'ONGOING'
The line item sits between 'kerb realignment' and 'consultation phase 2'. Nobody at council can say what a vibe costs per hour.
An Alexandra homeowner opening her latest rates notice has found a $400 charge listed only as 'strategic vibes', with Queenstown Lakes District Council confirming the item is real and 'part of a wider piece of work'.
Ratepayer Moira Kelliher, 71, spotted the line at the kitchen table on Tuesday. She said she'd been paying rates in this town since 1974, when a rates notice fit on one side of a card and told you what the money was for.
"Back then it said 'roads' and 'rubbish' and you knew where you stood," Kelliher told The Daily Yarn. "Now I'm paying four hundred bucks for a vibe. I asked my grandson what a vibe was and he said it was a feeling. I'm being billed for the council's feelings."
A neighbour, Deirdre Fowles, checked her own notice and found the same charge, plus $180 for 'alignment' and $95 for 'discovery'. Deirdre said she'd discovered plenty over the years and never once sent anyone an invoice.
A Queenstown Lakes District Council spokesperson said 'strategic vibes' referred to consultancy work by an Auckland firm to help the council 'articulate its forward posture'. Asked what the forward posture currently was, the spokesperson said they'd come back to us. They have not.
The invoice, obtained on request, lists a further $2,400 for 'vibe calibration workshops' held at a lakeside venue in March. Kelliher has started a spreadsheet. It's the first spreadsheet she's ever made, and she blames the council for that too.
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Reader Letters
Trev_Hornby
What on earth are 'strategic vibes'? Bloody piss-take, mate!
Sandra McGill
It's just the council playing silly buggers again. They need to get their act together and spend money on actual services. I've had enough of this nonsense with made-up charges for imaginary work. Most of us are just trying to make ends meet and then they add on bullshit like this.
Sarah_Dunedin
Transparency is key, and this 'vibe' thing is just taking the mickey. But honestly, if it's ongoing, what does that even mean? We’re going to pay for vibes annually? Ridiculous.
couchgremlin
Lol.
wayne1987
This is just another council conspiracy. Strategic vibes? More like strategic bullshit! COUNCIL'S ROOTED, folks! They’re draining us dry with these bogus charges while lining the pockets of their cronies.
MumOf3_Timboon
It's Aucklanders bringing their weird jargon down here!
tired_in_riccarton
Wayne, you're always looking for a conspiracy. Mate, it's just a cock-up, plain and simple.
Garry (Halswell)
This kind of thing wouldn't have happened in my day. Back then, you got transparency and value for money. Now it's all expensive consultants and no results. What's next? Charging us for 'urban feng shui'?