Simon Watts said he understood the council was looking to adopt the document ‘‘as soon as possible’’.
The minister’s comments follow the decision last week by Waitaki district councillors to scale back a 22% rates rise to 17%, which meant officers need to redraft the annual plan.
The council was due to adopt the key document, and set its rates, next week to meet a ‘‘critical’’ deadline tomorrow but will now have to do so at a meeting planned for July 9.
Missing the June deadline meant ‘‘breaching’’ New Zealand law, a document prepared for Tuesday’s council meeting said.
The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) ‘‘closely’’ monitored these timelines, the document said.
This type of breach was of ‘‘little actual consequence’’ in the past but given ‘‘changes in the operating environment, increased scrutiny on the sector by the minister and the proposed further reforms [amalgamation] that this is unlikely to be the case now and into the future’’.
If a council became deadlocked or refused to sign off a budget, the minister had the legal power to intervene, the section of the document on risks said.
And in ‘‘extreme scenarios of prolonged failure or dysfunction’’, the minister could dismiss sitting councillors and appoint an independent Crown commissioner to take over the district, push the plan through and set rates directly.
Not setting rates by tomorrow had consequences for borrowing, cash flow and rates invoices, Waitaki councillors heard this week.
In a statement to the Otago Daily Times, Mr Watts said he was ‘‘aware of this issue, and the department has advised me that late adoption of annual and long-term plans does happen occasionally, for various reasons’’.
‘‘In most cases, this does not warrant any ministerial intervention or action from the department.
‘‘I understand that the council is looking to adopt the annual plan as soon as possible.
‘‘The council is responsible for managing risks or flow-on effects that may occur due to late adoption.’’
