Local Democracy Reporting requested a breakdown of mayoral and chairperson spending from the beginning of the term to July 31 this year for all four Southland councils.
Southland District Council refused the request due to time constraints, saying the figures were mixed in with those of other elected members.
Mr Bell’s main expenditures were for flights and travel — $25,901 — followed by $16,844 for office expenses and $16,194 for accommodation.
A total of $7869 was spent on a November 2022 post-election retreat in Cromwell, which was boycotted by some councillors.
Mr Bell said he assumed there were expenses included under his name which had not gone against other mayors, such as the induction and office expenses.
"I guess outside of the expenses that were incurred in the first year, everything else I would class as relatively normal."
The council listed mileage costs of $9308 against Mr Bell, although his salary is reduced for the private use of a car.
Second on the list was Invercargill Mayor Nobby Clark, whose total bill came in at $92,205.
A spokesperson for the council pointed out not all costs were directly authorised by the mayor.
Fringe benefit tax and recoveries combined for almost $48,000 under Mr Clark’s name, and the spokesperson said that sum included costs associated with the mayoral car, citizenship ceremonies and some travel.
The council also listed vehicle-related costs of almost $10,000, despite Mr Clark taking a cut in his pay for the use of a car.
At Environment Southland, which does not have a mayor, chairman Nicol Horrell tallied $52,263.
That figure included car-related costs of $20,567 which were offset in part by Mr Horrell taking a $14,331 reduction in his pay for private use of a vehicle.
Information listed by New Zealand Legislation, the website run by the Parliamentary Counsel Office, shows Mr Clark had the highest salary of the Southern mayors for 2024-25 at $154,815.
That was followed by Southland Mayor Rob Scott on $139,906, Mr Horrell on $134,223 and Mr Bell on $116,154.
Local Democracy Reporting has lodged a request with the ombudsman for mayoral spending at Southland District Council to be made available.
The council said there were 665 documents and invoices to look through, and estimated it would take between 44 and 55 hours of staff time to gather information before a breakdown could be created.
• LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air
