Torrential rain and pounding seas have left a $2.5 million trail of destruction across Dunedin, and the bills are still coming in, Dunedin City Council staff say.
Council staff yesterday confirmed the combined cost of the clean-up from last month's wild weather and repairs to the St Clair sea wall had reached $1.46 million, but that was expected to rise by at least $1 million.
Council transportation operations programme engineer Michael Harrison said the council's share of the cost would be about half the total. The rest would be covered by New Zealand Transport Agency subsidies.
Despite that, the cost of the combined weather events was well above normal for a typical year, and was not budgeted for, meaning there was now ''huge pressure'' to adjust council budgets, he said.
''This is a big event,'' he said.
Some minor pre-programmed work had been deferred as a result, and more could be deferred, to cover the council's costs, he said.
However, staff were trying to avoid cutting work that could reduce service levels, he said.
''We don't want to affect the level of service.''
The bill to date included $484,000 for the sea wall and $980,000 for the clean-up after last month's torrential downpour, which caused slips around the city, Mr Harrison said.
About half the cost of the storm clean-up would be covered by NZTA subsidies, but the council would have to foot the entire bill for the sea wall repairs. That meant the council's share of the costs totalled $915,000, he said.
Even after deferring ''routine'' programmed roading work to find savings, the council still needed to find about $470,000 to cover the rest of the cost, he said.
On top of that, the bills for the storm clean-up were still coming in, as more damage was discovered and work carried out. That could add another $1 million and lift the total bill to $2.46 million, he said.
NZTA subsidies were expected to cover half the extra $1 million, meaning the council's share would rise from $915,000 to about $1.4 million, he said.
The costs were outlined in a report from Mr Harrison to be considered by councillors at Tuesday's infrastructure services committee meeting.
The report suggested more delays to planned works as one way of covering the rising cost. Any need to catch up on work would be considered during the 2014-15 annual plan budget process.
Mr Harrison said none of the options was ''overly palatable'', but the costs were still rising.
''The council's share is still going to be a notable amount and that's got to come from somewhere,'' he said.
The meeting will also consider plans to recruit a national or international marine consultancy firm to review the state of the St Clair sea wall and the best way to protect the area.
The review was expected to take up to three months and cost between $100,000 and $150,000, but the cost of any repair would be additional and was not yet known, Mr Harrison said.
Based on historic records, the council could also expect another unbudgeted weather event - costing it anywhere from $350,000 to $500,000 - in the next 12 months, he said.
