The first community information session to give residents the opportunity to gather information on the nine items up for public consultation will be at Dunstan High School, in Alexandra, tomorrow evening.
An extraordinary meeting to adopt the LTP scheduled for last Friday was cancelled when the Audit Office found a "technical accounting issue".
A council statement said the problem was around how the council recognised the transfer of Three Waters assets from the accounts when water service delivery changes came into effect in 2027.
That resulted in changes to the financials, financial strategy and consultation document, which would have to be reviewed by the auditor-general before the extraordinary council meeting.
Instead, an emergency meeting, via Zoom, was called for yesterday afternoon.
It was the second hiccup in the LTP process. At an extraordinary meeting on February 14, council chief executive Peter Kelly explained errors had been found in the figures presented in the long-term plan at the previous council meeting.
Additionally, changes to the water contract would also inflate the rates increase, Mr Kelly said.
When the long-term plan work began, a new spreadsheet was opened but the old one was still live, which resulted in figures for water costs going into the wrong one.
Water contracts were also being negotiated and when those figures were added to the long-term plan spreadsheet the staff member realised something was not right, he said.
The upshot for ratepayers was an extra 1% rates rise that should have been known before councillors voted on the increase at its January meeting. Another 1.5% increase was because of the new water contracts, which begins on July 1, and that would have happened anyway, Mr Kelly said.
At the time Mr Kelly said it was fortunate the error was found before submission to the Audit Office.
While the LTP covers many items residents could not submit their opinions on, including infrastructure and financial strategy and council fees and charges, there were nine items the council was seeking opinions on.
They ranged from selling community halls and buildings to swimming pool ownership and using council funds to bring V8 Supercar racing to Cromwell.
Submissions would be open for a month with public meetings held in each council ward and drop-in sessions at public libraries. There would be an online information session on April 22.
