The move effectively suspends a decision made in 2021 to grant a series of annual increases out to 2026-27 and affects the size of the pool available for groups such as the South Dunedin and Greater Green Island community networks.
This will be "subject to further consideration" once a grants review has been carried out as part of preparations for the 2025-34 long-term plan.
Speaker after speaker from groups potentially affected had urged the council not to take such a stance during the public forum component of yesterday’s council meeting.
They had described working at the grassroots level to meet community needs and in some cases smoothing relations between the council and community.
However, deputy mayor Cherry Lucas argued other community groups did not receive funding increases for the 2024-25 year.
It was "unbelievable" the council in 2021 had sought to lock in future councils to the increases without a mechanism for review or checking in, she said.
It seemed to be part of a series of decisions from the 2021 meeting where councillors found funding for "pet projects", Cr Lucas said.
The council yesterday voted 8-5 to direct staff to not allocate the $30,000 increase for 2024-25.
The five councillors against were David Benson-Pope, Christine Garey, Carmen Houlahan, Marie Laufiso and Steve Walker.
Money was not explicitly pulled from the budget for the pool for what are known as place-based groups, but the amount available for distribution is staying still at $460,000.
The broader grants review will then carry out its work.
Crs Jim O’Malley and Sophie Barker were among the councillors for the move, arguing for a level of oversight and clear reporting about delivery.
Other councillors for were Kevin Gilbert, Mandy Mayhem, Lee Vandervis, Brent Weatherall and Andrew Whiley.
Cr Gilbert said there needed to be a level playing field for examining grants.
Cr Walker said the council’s move was sad, embarrassing and amounted to a broken promise.
"Many councillors clearly don't understand how community works if they think making them write lengthier reports and filling in documents rather than spending time in the community is a way to proceed," he said after the meeting.
