Intergenerational Equity: Treatment of Infrastructure in New Zealand Local Government Financial Planning

This paper examines how local government authorities plan and financially provide for infrastructure while considering the needs of current and future communities. In New Zealand the Local Government Act 2002 provides a mandate for local authority planning through the requirement to publish Long Term Council Community Plans (LTCCPs). Our content analysis of the LTCCPs, annual plans and annual reports of five New Zealand local authorities reveals that these local authorities make conscious decisions about infrastructure that reflect concern for matters of intergenerational equity. They do so despite problems in relation to valuation, depreciation, deferred maintenance and financing of infrastructure assets.