Tauranga City Council has unanimously approved an almost $1 million overspend on the Tauranga Aiport terminal extension project.
The council says the overspend will have no impact on ratepayers.
According to a report presented to the council's Project, Services and Operations Committee meeting on Tuesday , $13.3m was originally approvedfor the airport terminal extension.
So far $13.2 million had been spent and the final project cost was estimated at $14.3m - an overspend of $987,000.
The report showed the overspend was caused by numerous factors, including variations around tenant requirements, poor ground conditions, tying the existing terminal to the extension and bringing forward works planned for the next financial year.
The full cost of the project would be paid back through landing fees and rental charges collected by the airport.
An advance on capital funding to the tune of $520,000 was also requested to cover works budgeted for 2019-2020 that were being completed this financial year to avoid further disruption to airport operations.
This included major landscaping enhancements, changes to the taxi and car rental parking automation, security upgrades to the arrival baggage carousel and bathroom rebuild.
The terminal under construction in February this year. Photo / File
Committee chairwoman Leanne Brown told the Bay of Plenty Times the funding request was "unanimously approved" by the committee.
She said the request was not due to a "budget blowout" and there had been variations to when aspects of the project were completed - for example, the toilets were completed ahead of time.
She said the overspend would "wash its face itself" and would not be a burden on ratepayers.
Art by Jason Porter in the terminal. Photo / File
Airport manager Ray Dumble said the overspend would take between six to 12 months to be repaid, while the entire extension would be paid back in about 10 years.
He said the airport's profit was $5.6m in the three years to June 2018.
Dumble did not predict further overspending.
The remaining works included the area used to prepare baggage before it is loaded on to planes, plumbing, painting and landscaping.
