Invercargill’s new museum rebuild has just got smaller as councillors try to trim back planned expenditure before the rates are set for the year on June 28.
At the Performance, Policy and Partnerships committee yesterday, councillors voted 6-3 to opt for the smaller 3500sqm build rather than the 4150sqm option that had been earmarked initially.
Nigel Skelt, Evelyn Cook, and Graham Lewis voted against the motion.
Three councillors abstained from voting (Nobby Clark, Tim Shadbolt and Ian Pottinger), and further discussion on the rates increase will continue at an extraordinary meeting next Tuesday.
Council initially proposed a 7.7% rates increase in its annual plan, but following many complaints and concerns from submitters have trimmed it back to 7.15%.
Deputy Mayor Nobby Clark represented the Invercargill Ratepayers Advocacy Group as a submitter at the hearing, and after yesterday’s meeting said he wasn’t interested in anything other than a 4% increase.
He believed council’s report to the committee on the proposed reduction was inadequate and there wasn’t enough information to make quality decisions.
The reports by council strategy and policy manager Rhiannon Suter presents other measures which the council could take to further reduce the rates increase by about 0.86%.
It included the reduction of the level of service within the parks and reserves activity to make a saving of $100,000, resulting in a forecast reduction in the rates increase of 0.17%; reduction of the budget for city centre activation from $250,000 to $50,000, resulting in reduction of 0.33%; and reduction of the Community Wellbeing Fund by $50,000, resulting in a forecast reduction of 0.08%.
A cut to the staff budget of $165,000, which would be achieved through management of the recruitment of current vacancies within the infrastructure group, decreasing the rates increase by 0.28%, was also proposed.
Councillors decided they were happy with Clark submitting on behalf of the ratepayers group as well as deliberating on the final rates outcome as long as he kept an open mind, and acknowledged all the information from staff.
“I don’t come with any predetermination,” he told the meeting.
Mana whenua representative Evelyn Cook said whilst they all at times wore more than one hat when sitting at council, they had to be mindful about how it was seen by other people.
She told the meeting she was uncomfortable about a councillor submitting in person or as the front of an organisation, and then deliberating.
“It does slightly alarm me the position we find ourselves in at the moment.”
Clark concluded that if the majority of his colleagues were uncomfortable with him being involved in the rates decision on June 14, “then I will consider whether I will participate at that stage,” he said.
Council will have its last chance to make changes to the rates following that meeting before they are finalised at the end of June.
**whatsoninvers.nz founder Mike Sanford said council has been talking about a new museum for over 10 years. In less time than that Scott and Joc O’Donnell have delivered two world-class motor museums, and if Scott wasn’t the driver of the city block rebuild that would’ve all been a mess if council was in the drivers seat.