Coast council report reflects rocky period
From local democracy reporter Brendon McMahon:
The West Coast Regional Council's annual for 2021-22 shows a deficit of $1.1 million.
The council collected $8.16m in rates, while total revenue was just over $17.7m.
The report period covers a rocky time at the council, marked by ructions between governance and management through much of 2021.
In the end it saw the exit of short-time chief executive Vin Smith and the transition to current chief exeuctive Heather Mabin. At the same time, natural disasters occurred including the July 2021 Westport flood, with increased call for new flood infrastructure.
It has also had to finalise the new combined Te Tai o Poutini Plan, and accommodate a raft of legislative changes and submissions.
The annual report notes the yet to be resolved $30m claim against the council by the Scenic Circle Hotel Group relating to the March 2016 Waiho (Waiau) River flood which swept through the former Mueller Wing, just north of Franz Josef Glacier township.
The council paid its employees $6.2m in 2021-22 compared to $6.4m the previous year. Elected representatives total remuneration was $401,237.
Consultant and contractor costs rose by more than $860,000 to $3.98m, compared to $3.12m.
Mabin said on Thursday that most of that cost was related to infrastructure/construction projects the council was undertaking on behalf, and VCS pest control operations - which were outside the normal operational functions of council.
"That is not consultants we have come in here," she said.
It was an audit requirement that any service the council sought externally, such as an archive project being undertaken by Development West Coast, "must have a contract".
Mabin said internal staff cover via consultant/contractor use for operational matters had been a "very low spend" in the period.
Aircraft hire totalling $2.6m was entirely related to VCS contract work.
The report details ongoing NEMA insurance claims and disaster cost recovery. Claims for costs from the floods of February last year and flood damage to rating district assets at Franz Josef, Karamea, Taramakau and Wanganui River at Hari Hari were nearly $600,000.
Further estimated costs of $321,557 were required in the current year to complete repairs, with a further claim now lodged for $292,559.
Overall, while the audit covers the council's financial performance it also audits its statutory function performance across every service area council provides.
These include regional leadership and the TTPP, council's Resource Management Act functions, its hydrology and flood warning services, river, drainage and coastal protection, community resilience and regional transport.
Overall the council posted a deficit of $1,112,777 against a budget of $10.5m, compared to a $10.57m profit the previous year.
The main causes of the deficit were the global economic impact on council's investment portfolio and the delayed IRG 'shovel ready' infrastructure projects funded by the Government. Subsidy and grant revenue from that source was $9.5m less than budgeted due to the delay in getting the infrastructure projects off the ground. As a result, the relevant funding requests from the Government were down from an expected $11.4m to $1.5m.
*Public interest journalism funded through NZ On Air
⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️
It's a message we share time and time again, and this year, we're calling on you to help us spread that message further.
Did you know that calls to SPCA about dogs left inside hot cars made up a whopping 11% of all welfare calls last summer? This is a completely preventable issue, and one which is causing hundreds of dogs (often loved pets) to suffer.
Here are some quick facts to share with the dog owners in your life:
👉 The temperature inside a car can heat to over 50°C in less than 15 minutes.
👉 Parking in the shade and cracking windows does little to help on a warm day. Dogs rely on panting to keep cool, which they can't do in a hot car.
👉 This puts dogs at a high risk of heatstroke - a serious condition for dogs, with a mortality rate between 39%-50%.
👉 It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act to leave a dog in a hot vehicle if they are showing signs of heat stress. You can be fined, and prosecuted.
SPCA has created downloadable resources to help you spread the message even further. Posters, a flyer, and a social media tile can be downloaded from our website here: www.spca.nz...
We encourage you to use these - and ask your local businesses to display the posters if they can. Flyers can be kept in your car and handed out as needed.
This is a community problem, and one we cannot solve alone. Help us to prevent more tragedies this summer by sharing this post.
On behalf of the animals - thank you ❤️
Poll: Would you rather: Christmas in summer forever or winter forever?
Just a bit of a fun poll to get you thinking.
If you had to live out your Christmas days, would you prefer it was a summer Christmas or a winter Christmas?
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62.2% Summer
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36.4% Winter
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1.5% Other - I'll share below
Worst Xmas ever?
There's a a lot of planning that goes into Christmas day and sometimes things just don't go to plan. But it can be a good thing - a family mishap or hilarious memory that you can laugh about in Christmases to come.
Whether you burnt the dinner or were stranded at an airport...
Share your Christmas mishaps below!
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