Inflation will eat away at the debt, and much of the debt is used to pay for assets that will be used by future generations anyway, so they will be paying it back.  But at the end of the day it will be ratepayers who will be picking up the bill, many of who will pass it onto renters, in their rents. The thing is that as Auckland will likely be owned more and more by overseas buyers, as NZers cash up their million dollar shack and, and move of cheaper areas in NZ, the rates will largely be paid for by either people renting, or by rich overseas people who are holding onto the property. I would like to see the figures of how many properties in Auckland centre are actually owned by overseas residents. In Queenstown it is almost 10%, if not more when you take into account trusts etc.