Service cutbacks rejected by councillors

Rotorua councillors have voted against proposed reductions in services which would have helped to ensure Council finishes the financial year on budget.

The resolution passed at yesterday’s (Wednesday 18 March) meeting of the Rotorua Lakes Council Operations and Monitoring Committee acknowledged that as a result of not accepting reductions in services, Council will likely end the year approximately $1m “unfavourable against budget”.

The matter was dealt with in the confidential section of the committee meeting but councillors voted to make public the financial report and their decision.

Council’s Chief Financial Officer Thomas Colle says Council has reduced capital expenditure to ensure it ends the year within its funding levels.

“This means we will not take on new debt and will end the year within our funding levels,” Mr Colle says.

The budget issues faced by Council are driven by reduced revenue in two services – the landfill and parks and recreation – and are not caused by over-expenditure, he says.

“We are still attempting to do better and will continue to review expenditure to ensure the year-end result is on budget.”

The financial report presented to councillors showed that overall Council was on track to end the year under budget. However, that included a proposed $1.1m reduction in services to have Council on budget by the end of the financial year. The $1.1m is less than 1% of Council’s total operating budget.

Having considered the implications of the proposed service reductions, councillors voted to maintain the current levels of services and look to the Long-term Plan process to explore options to correct the funding of the landfill and parks activities where revenue levels were less than expected. [ENDS]

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