Some cuts made as council views budget

Malcolm Macpherson
Malcolm Macpherson
A move to employ extra staff got the chop and some projects were postponed for a year or more as the Central Otago District Council yesterday sliced what it could from its district-wide budgets before setting its rates.

The council spent eight hours going through its planning and environment, district development and operations estimates, and considered fees and charges in those departments.

Community boards have already dealt with estimates for their individual areas and come up with a draft rates increase, with the exception of Cromwell, which meets again tomorrow to discuss the matter.

Council corporate services manager Heather Kinsey said the rate take would not be finalised until the end of this week and the impact of the rates on "typical" properties in each ward of the region would not be calculated until next week.

Central Otago Mayor Malcolm Macpherson wondered if it was appropriate to go through the estimates "line by line", making cuts on an ad hoc basis.

"I wonder if we're getting the bigger picture?" Cr Neil Gillespie said that if the council had to go through the budget line by line, "that's OK - these are hard times". Relocating the Cromwell Information Centre was one of the items removed from the budget.

The cost was estimated at $500,000 in the coming year and $1.7 million the following year.

With changes pending in the Cromwell Mall, councillors decided it was a bad time to finalise shifting the information centre. .

"Maybe we need to get the Cromwell Mall sorted out first," Cr Gillespie saidCr Tony Lepper said the council would "look real good spending $2.5 million [on the relocation] in the current climate".

Hiring extra staff for the council's district development department and to liaise with communities about community plans were also put on the back burner.

The council's quarterly newsletter, which usually accompanies rates demands, was pruned to two issues a year, saving $6000.

The budget for the annual district awards recognising the area's business people, volunteers and youth was cut by $5000 to $15,000 However, arts received a boost, with the council deciding to grant $35,000 for a district arts co-ordinator to implement the area's new arts strategy.

Arts was undervalued and underfunded in the district, Cr Clair Higginson said.

Cr Lepper said the arts should receive equal funding to the amount the council gave to Sports Central, which was $35,000.

The roading budget featured a decrease compared with last year.

Roading manager Julie Muir said the department had been able to make savings by streamlining work flows.

Sealing part of Conroys Rd and building cycle lanes on Earnscleugh Rd, and between Cromwell and Bannockburn, were included in the budget, at a cost of $571,000.

Planning and environment manager Louise van der Voort said she had allowed for a 15% decrease in income from building services.

"It's difficult to anticipate the extent of the downturn, but we think it'll be about 15% down on what we got last year, which was $900,000," Ms van der Voort said.

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