Nobby Clark told the Southland Express this week he had been asking for months for the breakdown figures of the expenditure and had to file a Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act (LGOIMA) request last week to get some clarity.
According to information released this week, the council spent $1,509,551.06 on consultants and $229,331.42 on contractors from July 1, 2024, to January 1, 2025.
In the last financial year of 2023/2024, the council spent $3,827,501.22 on outsourced services — with $1,124,570.82 for consultants and $223,425.01 for contractors in the first semester.
Included in the expenditure was more than $540,000 for consultancy and consents in relation to water services, which include the Bluff Wastewater project, $100,000 for IT projects and services and almost $120,000 for temporary staffing within the parks team which, according to the report, related to seasonal increases and vacant permanent roles.
Invercargill City Council group manager finance and assurance Patricia Christie also highlighted the council engaged with several entities via contract and those were not included in the total amount released to the publication.
"These contracts include maintenance, service delivery and construction."
When approached for comment, Mr Clark said he was angry and believed this value was even bigger now.
"That’s a joke, so if you double it up and say that’s going to be $4m by the end of the year."
He believed the amount spent on outsourcing services was about the same amount to keep the rates lower than what had been suggested.
"Those [who] are not in Three Waters will be 3.7%, which is OK, but most people [who] are on water, sewerage and stormwater are due to have an increase of 9.5% this next financial year, which follows from an increase of 9.8% from last year.
"If council didn’t spend any of that money this year, $4m ... I would say, that’s basically the gap between what they’re asking for and what I said they need, which is $9.5m and $4m, [respectively], to keep the rates down," Mr Clark said.
The feedback he was receiving from many members of the community was such an increase would put an even bigger toll on them as many families were struggling financially with the cost of living.
"We’ve got to find ways to cut the overall cost. You can’t keep running the cost up at 9 or 10%.
"I just feel sorry for some of the people that keep coming to me saying they’re struggling.
"They’re struggling with power, food, fuel and rates and the only thing we can do to help is about the rates."
He acknowledged some outsourcing was necessary for a business such as a council, but it needed a good reason for that because he believed it "becomes a bit easy sometimes".
Mr Clark had met with executive staff and had asked for the breakdown of the expenditure of contractors and consultants since he got into council, but said he was never able to get the clear and full picture.
The situation was so frustrating he filed a LGOIMA request last week to his own council in a hope to get this information, he said.
"As a mayor, this was the first time I ever did that because I just can’t be fobbed off any more.
"I need this information to be able to have a really robust debate."
Mr Clark hoped the council could review its expenditure in the next six months and avoid using outsourcing services to keep the costs down, he said.
"My position is to say — if I can get the numbers around the table — that they are only going to have a rate increase this year of 3.9% and that’s the end of it.
"If they said it’s not enough money to run the business, well, then you’re the same as every other business in town — you’ve got to start thinking about where you put your money."
The Invercargill City Council was approached for comment but was not able to respond before the Express went to print.
