A former council chief executive who resigned pending an investigation into her conduct received an $85,000 severance payment.
Westland District Council's office in Hokitika Photo: Screenshot / Google Maps
Former chief executive Tanya Winter resigned in April after being stood down pending an independent investigation into her conduct.
A payment of $85,000 to Ms Winter was revealed after a council meeting this afternoon to discuss its annual report - which showed a $2 million deficit in annual operating costs.
Overall, $230,000 in severance payments were paid to three staff, including the former chief executive.
Her suspension related to whether Ms Winter had failed to properly notify council that she had alerted the Serious Fraud Office to the conduct of a council manager.
Mayor Bruce Smith said following Ms Winter's resignation, a settlement was reached that involved the council paying her $85,000.
He said in the same financial year two further severance payments with a combined value of $145,000 were made to two other staff members. He said one of the payments related to a staffer who worked at the council before he was elected mayor in 2016.
Today the council held a meeting to discuss the adoption of its annual report for the year ended June 2017.
A council report showed a deficit of $2.1m, even though the council had budgeted for a surplus of more than $1m.
Mr Smith said there were unbudgeted costs that came up during the year.
"Included in those accounts is the April 2016 big flood at Franz Josef, where it washed away our sewerage ponds ... so there is the cost of remedying those because they're not budgeted for.
"So there is a lot of natural event repairs that are in the unbudgeted amount," he said.
Mr Smith was not alarmed by the deficit and said in general, ratepayers should feel very comfortable.
He said the council's total debt for the last financial year was $16.7m, which was less than the other two district councils on the West Coast.
But the council's deputy mayor, Helen Lash, was concerned.
Ms Lash said it would be understandable for ratepayers to feel surprised and disappointed about the deficit and the fact that $230,000 was paid in severance payments.
"Some of that expenditure is fully accountable as far as unexpected things go wrong, and they do [go wrong]," she said.
"But I'm still gravely concerned because every year you are going to have incidental expenditure going on, unbudgeted expenditure going on ... and you have got to manage that and you've got to prioritise and I certainly believe we have got to go back to the drawing board and reassess."
Mayor addresses "your worship" claims
Earlier this week it was reported that mayor Bruce Smith had last year instructed staff to call him "your worship".
When asked by RNZ, Mr Smith did not deny that claim, but said the story was a "media beat-up" and someone had been "trying to stir the pot."
"For a council meeting, my instruction to councillors and the staff is that I will address the councillors as 'councillor whoever'... [and] that the mayor will be addressed as his worship and that the staff will do exactly the same thing.
"It is in respect of the position, it is not in respect of myself," he said.
Nelson severance payouts
The Nelson City Council has spent a quarter of a million dollars on severance payments to four staff, including a $70,000 settlement to its former chief executive.
The figures were contained in the council's annual report, which was approved at a full council meeting today.
Clare Hadley resigned in May this year, a few months before her contract was due to end. She said then she did not intend to seek another five-year term as the council's most senior employee.
The council's annual report describes the payment to Mrs Hadley as a severance package. The total spent on severance payments was $226,000, with the highest at $91,000 to one staff member.
