The budget for supplying hot beverage machines within the council’s civic office currently sits at $250,000 a year.
It provides for city council staff to enjoy tea, coffee and other hot drinks from its 29 machines free of charge.
This equates to costing the council about 70c per employee per day, with about 1300 staff frequenting the civic office.
However, the city council is looking to cut this back by about $150,000 after the Covid-19 pandemic left it with a $99 million shortfall.
Council head of facilities property and planning Bruce Rendall said it was in discussions with suppliers in order to achieve this and planning to implement the changes from July 1.
A city council report on the proposed changes acknowledges the move to reduce the budget by more than half could result in “some negative staff perceptions.”
In spite of this, Rendall said no complaints had been made about the planned changes to date.
The changes to how the council provides its staff with hot beverages are being proposed under the draft Annual Plan, which is set to open for public consultation tomorrow.
Submissions on the plan close on June 29.
