By ELIZABETH BINNING
A $4 million loan and an extra $2 on the price of a ticket to the rugby are among options the Hamilton City Council is facing as the cost of the new Waikato Stadium spirals.
Other councils in the Waikato have been warned that they will be
expected to help pay for the $36.8 million stadium, which is now more than $8 million over budget.
Stadium working party chairman Dave Macpherson said the loan and other financing options were the latest dramas in a stadium project that had already cost the council and ratepayers too much.
"It's the most mismanaged public project I have ever witnessed," he said.
The Hamilton City Council originally invested $9 million in the stadium development.
But it was forced to step in and provide more money when the trust running the project ran into financial difficulty this year.
The trust, headed by Hamilton Mayor David Braithwaite, could not guarantee payment to its main contractor, who refused to release the stadium to the city until bills of $3 million were paid.
At an emergency meeting in April, councillors voted to take over the running of the project from the trust and cover any shortfall, including the $3 million debt.
That shortfall quickly rose to $7 million at the end of April, when contractors lodged penalty claims, which are still being debated by the council.
Now the final overrun is estimated to be $8.3 million.
Hamilton City Council chief executive Tony Marryatt said in his submission to the annual plan that the council would pay the project shortfall from the normal cash flow until the end of the financial year next June.
After that, a $4 million loan would be needed if the present estimated costs were correct.
Hamilton businessman Brian Perry has promised to pay $2 million of the shortfall, and the council has asked the WEL Energy Trust for an extra $1 million.
But that does not cover the costs.
Mr Macpherson said the stadium working party would meet early next month to discuss other options, including a rugby ticket tax.
A ticket tax has been discussed several times, but has been opposed by the Waikato Rugby Union, which rents the stadium from the council.
By ELIZABETH BINNING
A $4 million loan and an extra $2 on the price of a ticket to the rugby are among options the Hamilton City Council is facing as the cost of the new Waikato Stadium spirals.
Other councils in the Waikato have been warned that they will be
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