Mr Swiggs was ousted from his Central Ward seat in last year’s elections following allegations he sent “grossly inappropriate” messages to youths.
This led to an initial preliminary assessment of the allegations before an official code of conduct complaint process began.
The code of conduct investigation was dropped by the city council after Mr Swiggs failed to gain re-election.However, supporters of Mr Swiggs then lodged a petition in the Christchurch District Court, arguing the allegations were released to the media by the Canterbury Youth Worker's Collective in an attempt to sabotage his campaign.
Information released to starnews.co.nz under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act revealed the city council spent $35,093.27 on the preliminary investigation conducted by retired High Court judge John Mathews.
The code of conduct process cost $5855.80 and the District Court trial cost the city council $26,307.40 in external legal costs.
The city council was also charged $368 for counselling for one of the complainants and $517.50 for "professional supervision" of Mr Swiggs.
