Ruapehu Council Probes $700k Overspend On Parks And Reserves

Tuesday, 29 April 2025, 7:26 pm
Article: Moana Ellis - Local Democracy Reporter

The Ruapehu mayor has launched an independent investigation into a “significant overspend” on council parks, reserves and walking tracks.

Ruapehu District councillors were left with “no choice” two weeks ago but to debt-fund a $700,000 blow-out of the council’s community and recreational facilities budget.

A report to councillors said the portfolio's budgeted maintenance costs of $2.01 million to February 2025 were $480,000 over budget. The figure would be higher when March figures were included.

An estimated $200,000 was also needed to meet the council’s contractual obligations to the end of the financial year.

Debt-funding the overspend will exceed the council’s self-imposed debt ceiling under its long-term plan, but executive manager finance, strategy and governance Quentin Speers told councillors that would not breach the Local Government Act.

“There’s headroom there,” Speers said.

Mayor Weston Kirton said it was “like eating a dead rat” but the council had no choice.

The report by acting manager community and recreational facilities Melissa Jackson said the overspend was down to “significant contractual cost escalations” and unscheduled maintenance work.

Jackson – in the job only five weeks – said some costs were incorrect and council officers were re-coding them to align spending to the correct activity.

Mayor Weston Kirton said on Monday the overspend was being taken extremely seriously and an external investigator would look into it.

"I have brought in an independent consultant to thoroughly investigate how this overspend occurred, including examining the decision-making processes and identifying why it was not picked up sooner.”

Kirton said he was aware of community concerns but this was a time for responsible governance, "not Facebook talkback".

The investigation should be fair, balanced and adhere strictly to natural justice and procedural fairness, he said.

"I have reminded elected members that our responsibility is to hold the chief executive accountable.

“It is the chief executive who manages internal processes and staffing matters. Staff involved - who are also ratepayers - deserve fairness, respect and due process throughout this investigation."

Chief executive Clive Manley initiated an internal review when the overspend was discovered.

The internal review, supported by the independent investigation, would examine decision-making procedures and how processes could be improved, and would be reported back to councillors.

"This situation requires calm and adherence to a proper legal process,” Kirton said.

“Calling for disciplinary actions or dismissals on social media is irresponsible and could expose council and ratepayers to costly legal repercussions."

He said the overspent funds had not gone missing or been misappropriated.

“The expenditure has been on valuable community assets, including the river walkway in Taumarunui and reserve maintenance across the district.

“Nevertheless, the overspend is serious, and we are addressing it accordingly."

The council was dedicated to transparency, accountability and maintaining public trust, he said.

“I look forward to updating our community on the outcomes of these investigations and detailing the actions we will implement to ensure this does not happen again.”

The overspending included:

• $102,000 on Raetihi Reserves maintenance, including $85,000 of unbudgeted professional services consultancy costs.

• $98,000 on public toilet costs, including $23,500 of unscheduled maintenance work painting two Taumarunui public toilets, and significant hikes in cleaning contractor costs.

• $95,000 on council administration buildings, including power and cleaning cost increases and unscheduled maintenance work.

• $58,000 on Ohakune Reserves maintenance, including cost increases in the Parks and Reserves maintenance contract and $13,000 of professional services consultancy costs.

• $56,000 on Taumarunui Walking Track maintenance, compared to the $10,000 originally budgeted.

• $53,800 on Taumarunui reserves maintenance, including $31,000 on professional services consultancy for forward maintenance planning.

• $16,700 on Taumarunui Aerodrome facility refurbishment.

• $24,700 on Sunshine Track Bridge unscheduled maintenance work.

Council officers are preparing a report for the next council meeting to discuss cost saving options.

Executive manager infrastructure Vini Dutra told councillors on April 16 that consultancy work had been stopped for the financial year.

“We are having ongoing discussions with contractors around levels of service, possibly deferring maintenance, specifically around new assets,” Dutra said.

“We have a number of new assets that are costing money to maintain. We’ll have to make some hard calls there.

“We’ve negotiated some contracts that are cheaper than we were spending previously. For the new financial year, we will have to reassess levels of service in order for us to meet the budget.”

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