In 2007, Mr Allen produced a detailed report for Newcastle City Council, which calculated the value of the Newcastle shortfall to be $134million.

The latest Newcastle accounts show that the infrastructure backlog is now $122million, which appears to be an improvement on the 2007 situation.

But care needs to be taken when making comparisons because council finances – subject as they are to various accounting treatments – can be somewhat opaque.

For example, at the start of this financial year the council’s infrastructure, property, plant and equipment had a ‘‘fair value’’ of $1.82billion but a ‘‘written down value’’ of $1.62billion. At the end of the year the fair value had risen to $2.2billion but the written down value had fallen to $1.29billion. This was because a change in accounting standards had cut the value of the council’s community land from $492million to $118million.

As difficult as the figures might be to interpret they are important to note because councils use balance sheet infrastructure backlogs to justify big increases in land rates.

It doesn’t take the fine print of a council report, however, to show crumbling infrastructure is a reality. Newcastle’s ageing council buildings are well known. The other Hunter councils nominate roads as their main concern.

All up, the five-council backlog stands at $379million, an increase of $50million in two years.

The state government has unveiled a $70million assistance program for councils to tackle their infrastructure problems but it requires councils to borrow money to obtain a subsidy on the interest.

As generous as the help might be, councils that are already finding it hard to make ends meet will be thinking twice before going deeper into debt.

Angling for answers