The Dunedin City Council ended up getting through about three-quarters of its planned capital expenditure for the past financial year. The actual spend was about $174.8 million against a budget of $231.2m, provisional results said. Most of the shortfall was down to delays in waste minimisation work. The council had budgeted for a waste minimisation capital spend of about $45m in 2025-26, but the actual amount was about $11.4m. Overall, capital expenditure was 75.6% of the full-year budget, it was stated in the provisional results. Total debt was forecast to be almost $790m at the end of the financial year, but was instead about $718m. The latest financial update was in the finance and performance committee agenda for Thursday’s meeting. Results are subject to final adjustments and external audit. A surplus of $596,000 was posted once the Waipori Fund’s result was taken into account — that was against a budget of breaking even. The fund itself reported a net operating surplus of $8.7m, which was favourable to budget by more than $3.6m. Revenue for the council was about $9m below budget and expenses came in about $6m cheaper than budget. The council had indicated through the financial year it was unlikely to get near its capital expenditure budget. This was mostly put down to project timing. Waste minimisation capital expenditure was more than $33.6m behind budget. This was mostly due to delays relating to consent requirements for construction of a materials recovery facility and organics processing facility. There were also some project cost savings, such as $1.9m from redevelopment of Moana Pool. Regarding revenue, less money came in from parking meters than had been expected. On-street meter revenue was $970,000 down on expectations, “partly due to budgeting assumptions around parking occupancy rates not being achieved, as well as roadworks and other projects impacting on the availability of inner-city parking spaces throughout the year”, the financial report said. Green Island landfill revenue was $961,000 below expectations, as less waste came in than budgeted.
