Rather, more rewards might be distributed, given the pressure on council budgets from next year - an $8 million annual budget shortfall is forecast.
"We might give some bonuses for staff who come up with particularly good ideas for saving costs," he said.
Mr Stephens' comments come as figures obtained by the Otago Daily Times showed 447 council staff received bonus payments totalling $254,151 in the 2010-11 financial year. The largest individual payment was $4000 and the smallest $100.
The spending formed part of an overall rewards bill of $1.9 million accrued by the council over the last 10 years, the figures showed.
That included $1.26 million in cash payments, and another $640,000 in non-cash rewards - ranging from flowers to movie tickets and restaurant meals - over 10 years, although the number of gifts distributed was not available.
The release following a request under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 in May, withheld previously because of council collective agreement negotiations.
The information also confirmed one council department had exceeded its rewards budget by $6400, resulting in an "intervention" by senior managers.
Human resources manager Bruce Miller refused to name the department, saying identifying the manager responsible would raise "an issue of individual privacy".
He also refused to discuss the nature of the ongoing intervention, saying an explanation would be requested and appropriate action taken if necessary, "potentially" including disciplinary action.
Mr Stephens said when contacted recently he was not familiar with the details of the budget overrun, or which department was responsible, but was not concerned about it.
Bonus payments were the best way to reward staff "immediately and promptly" for good work, and could save the council money.
The council had previously used a merit steps system to award small salary increases to high-performing staff, but those then remained "locked in" permanently regardless of future performance.
Bonuses were preferred as one-off rewards and funded using 1% of departments' total remuneration budgets. . Their value in part came through providing immediate rewards for good work, he said.
Examples included the "little bonus" to staff who worked through weekends testing a new rating mechanism earlier this year, and a staff member whose one-off action last year saved the council "many millions of dollars".
He declined to divulge details of that case, but said overall bonus spending totalled only 79% of the council's 2010-11 rewards budget.
The number of staff receiving payments had increased steadily, from 172 in 2001-02 to 447 in 2010-11, reflecting both better record-keeping and the shift from merit steps to bonuses. .
Despite that, overall bonus spending "probably hasn't" increased much, and he was comfortable with the "reasonable" figures.
"People try hard and they work hard, and I know that they do a lot of overtime that they don't get paid for, and people come to work and they want to do better.
"If we can recognise that performance, then good. I think that's a good thing," he said.
