Plain language law

New Zealand law explained for everyone

Local Government Act 2002

Planning, decision-making, and accountability - Borrowing and security - Miscellaneous provisions

121: The Crown not liable for debts

You could also call this:

“The government doesn't pay for local council debts”

The government won’t pay for any debts or money owed by your local council. This means if your council owes money, the government doesn’t have to help pay it back.

However, there’s one exception to this rule. The government might have to pay if the money owed is a special kind mentioned in section 49 of the Public Finance Act 1989. This section talks about specific types of money that the government might be responsible for.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM172905.

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Part 6 Planning, decision-making, and accountability
Borrowing and security: Miscellaneous provisions

121The Crown not liable for debts

  1. The Crown is not liable to contribute to the payment of any debts or liabilities of any local authority.

  2. Subsection (1) does not apply in relation to liability for any sum of a kind described in section 49 of the Public Finance Act 1989.

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Notes
  • Section 121(2): amended, on , by section 37(1) of the Public Finance Amendment Act 2004 (2004 No 113).