Invercargill City Council adopted its annual plan yesterday and it is ready to go out for consultation with a proposed rate increase of 9.47% — but its own mayor was very vocal about his disappointment with it.
Before the extraordinary meeting of the council started yesterday, Nobby Clark stated he would not support the annual plan process.
According to him, the process was flawed as it did not look into internal costs.
"I just don't agree that we haven't reviewed our employees' costs and so one of the problems I have with the annual plan is that it signals 9.47% as an increase to rates which I think ... is an unacceptably high figure."
He believed if there was any disagreement about what the staff had proposed in the consultation document, then the rates would increase even more.
He mentioned the Great South and stadium as examples and said if the council continued with increases of about 10% each year it would affect residents.
In response, Cr Ian Pottinger asked Mr Clark if people were struggling as much as he said, why would they tell the council to spend more money on the "flashest" new museum.
"I'm just wondering how these people, who are on the red line and sleeping in the cold, are going to take advantage and benefit from this huge and exorbitant [museum]?"
Mr Clark told Cr Pottinger he had raised the matter several times and the feedback he had from consultations was the public wanted the museum with all the features, which increased the cost.
Cr Pottinger also questioned if Mr Clark should be part of the discussion about the annual plan consultation document as he had declared his position, which meant he was "not open minded" as the process required.
Council governance and legal manager Michael Morris said although Mr Clark voiced his opinions, it would not preclude his participation from the voting.
"Mayor Clark has stated his position in relation to the consultation document and what he would like to see.
"He has said nothing that has indicated that his mind is closed to what our community will tell him."
Finance and Assurance manager Patricia Christie said the 2025-26 annual plan consultation document was a paper which "tells the story" to the public about the decisions which councillors have made as representatives of the public.
She highlighted it was a complex year, largely due to the ring fencing of Three Waters. She said the council was forced to do a number of things in relation to the Three Waters process which had a direct cost impact and affected the rates.
The annual plan was endorsed by the council, ready for public consultation to begin tomorrow.
