During an Invercargill City Council risk and assurance meeting earlier this week, Councillor Darren Ludlow queried an expense of $378 for a rental car used by Sir Tim during the 2021 Local Government Conference in Blenheim in July.
"I’m pretty sure that council directed it was preferring that taxi chits be made available because the mayor didn’t have a driver’s licence," Cr Ludlow said.
Chief executive Clare Hadley confirmed the council had previously decided the rental car would not be funded but said the rental was organised before the council’s decision.
"The invoice has been presented to the mayor and payment is sought."
Sir Tim said after the meeting he was upset the issue had been brought to the council table and he needed to clarify the situation before deciding whether to pay.
It was "disturbing" when a bill arrived months-old, he said.
"It was council business ... I’ve been to this conference for 20 years now and I have never been asked to pay before. It was always, ‘you can choose a taxi or a hire car’.
"It is part of the devaluation of the mayor’s powers and it seems that every week there is something like that."
Mrs Hadley said she had not checked yesterday, but the amount was still outstanding on Thursday.
