Any fireworks seem set to go off in private when the Dunedin City Council meets to discuss its projected $8 million budget shortfall tomorrow.
Councillors at the full council meeting will discuss three separate agenda items relating to Dunedin City Holdings Ltd (DCHL's) cashflows and the findings of two reviews scrutinising the company.
However, all three items have been listed in the closed section of the meeting's agenda, and would be discussed with the media and public excluded.
That was despite Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull - followed by two city councillors - deciding to go public with concerns about the state of DCHL finances late last month, after considering the findings of the two reviews.
Contacted yesterday, Mr Cull defended the need for secrecy, which was needed to protect the reputations of individuals and companies mentioned in the reviews.
However, he said the council had been "pretty speedy" in dealing with the issues raised, and wanted as much information as possible made public.
The council process dictated the two reviews be considered in in closed session initially, having come to the full council meeting from the non-public part of the council's finance, strategy and development committee, he said.
However, it was possible councillors, once in closed session, could vote to move the debate back into the public arena, or release results - together with more details of the reviews - after the meeting, he said.
Full copies of the two reviews would not be released, again for privacy reasons, but "the vast bulk of them" would be, he said.
"They are of public interest ... I think the public has a right to know as many of the facts as we can put in front of them."
Mr Cull's comments came after he warned late last month the council faced a $5 million drop in annual dividends from DCHL, while Dunedin Venues Management Ltd also faced a $3 million drop in dividend payments.
The shortfall meant the council would have to consider cost-cutting and other steps to bridge the gap.
Big decisions were not expected to be signed off until next year's long-term plan hearings, and after being considered by incoming council chief executive Paul Orders.
Tomorrow's meeting would be a chance for councillors to debate the reviews' findings.
One, by the council's council-controlled organisation (CCO) liaison group, examined information flows between DCHL and the council, while the second, by independent reviewer and company director Warren Larsen, looked at DCHL's governance structure.
Both concluded DCHL reporting mechanisms to the council needed to be "greatly improved", and the makeup and skill-set of the boards of DCHL and its subsidiaries changed, Mr Cull said at the time.
He and Cr Paul Hudson - who is a city councillor and, separately, DCHL chairman - have since exchanged increasingly heated verbal volleys. Both were expected at tomorrow's meeting, but Mr Cull said he was not expecting fireworks.
It would be up to Cr Hudson to decide whether he answered questions as DCHL chairman while attending the meeting as a councillor, Mr Cull said.
Cr Hudson could not be contacted late yesterday.
