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A city councillor has been fact-checked by the Dunedin City Council chief executive after claiming a ''massive'' under-spend in stormwater infrastructure was continuing.
Cr Lee Vandervis made the claim during Tuesday's annual plan meeting, when he suggested the council's budgets showed a ''massive planned stormwater under-spend'' would continue until 2024.
But council chief executive Sue Bidrose, addressing councillors at the start of yesterday's meeting, told Cr Vandervis the claim was wrong.
His conclusions overlooked $30million in planned stormwater spending for South Dunedin added to the council's books in recent years.
''I just thought I would point that out,'' she told him.
Cr Vandervis had based his claim on a graph, which he showed to other councillors, comparing the 10-year stormwater renewals budget forecasts made in 2015 and 2018.
The graphs showed the 2018 forecasts trending well below the 2015 ones until 2024, when they increased dramatically.
Council staff were unsure about the source of the graphs, amid suggestions they had been prepared for Cr Vandervis by an outside source, the Otago Daily Times was told yesterday.
Dr Bidrose said yesterday the material was not prepared by council staff.
Cr Vandervis, responding at yesterday's meeting, said he would ''look forward to seeing the updated graphs''.
That prompted another retort from Mayor Dave Cull, who said he had the updated information.
''The lesson is to use authoritative sources for your information, and then it would be correct.''