Forecast personnel costs for the next year equate to about $1270 per ratepayer.
Iwi representative Paul Madgwick said the $8.9m for leadership was an ‘‘awful dent’’ in the new annual plan budget.
Before it was signed off he put the 6.5% rating figure into context.
‘‘Before we congratulate each other about getting down to single figures we need to put that in context.
‘‘This comes on the back of some very horrible rate increases in recent times, so 6.5% is not as great as it looks.’’
Cr Madgwick said the rate strike was achieved by ‘‘a lot of tinkering around the edges’’.
Savings made by reducing operational hours at council facilities, for example, were ‘‘superficial’’, he said.
‘‘We haven’t addressed the big one, and I’m afraid that big one is the $8.9m that’s for democracy and staff.
‘‘There’s nothing that addresses that, and $8.9m is an awful dent in the budget.’’
He said Grey District Council staff costs were $10m, and Westland was not far behind.
Council chief financial officer Stephen Lewis clarified the $8.9m was the cost of all corporate services, including treasury and customer services as well as IT.
‘‘Payroll is actually $8.6m for the next financial year,’’ Mr Lewis said. — Janna Sherman
