Council chief executive Peter Kelly said the water services delivery plan was submitted to the Department of Internal Affairs on August 28. It would be the basis for the future joint water entity between Central Otago, Clutha and Gore district councils.
Previously Timaru and Waitaki district councils had expressed interest in joining the group but decided against it.
The three remaining councils recovered $39,000 from Timaru for work done incorporating it into the plan and $62,000 from Waitaki.
Budget allowance, including contingency, for the plan was $548,000, Mr Kelly said.
The actual cost at the end of July was $623,000. The department of internal affairs contributed $354,000 to the budget and with funds recovered from the two other councils the remaining three had to put in $55,000.
As the administering authority the three councils would pay costs associated with contractors and engaging them but that was on hold with the pending election.
However, they were recruiting for a programme director to head up the team to lead the transition, he said.
While the skills matrix for the establishing board chief executive was being confirmed the decision on any appointment would be for the mayors following the election.
Not all the work to establish the CCO would be completed by July 1, 2027 and the cost of transition would be between $1.4 and $8 million, which would be debt-funded.
The CODC would get a cheaper borrowing rate because of its excellent credit rating and that debt would be used to establish the transition team.
Once the CCO was established the debt would be transferred to that entity, Mr Kelly said.
Councillor Neil Gillespie asked given what had happened previously when staff were appointed and then had to be paid out when the government changed what were the safeguards this time?
Mr Kelly said it was always a risk despite the leader of the opposition Chris Hipkins saying he would not "roll this one over".
However, people would be employed on fixed contracts.
Cr Cheryl Laws asked given the changes were going to move quickly how would the council communicate with the community?
Mr Kelly said all three councils were thinking about external communications, so there were no surprises in July 2027.
