Letters to the editor: Rotorua council must cut costs in face of 'wartime crisis'

The Rotorua Lakes Council forecasts a budget loss of $4 million to $5 million by June. Photo / Andrew Warner

What a surprise to read that the council forecasts a budget loss of $4 million-$5 million (News, December 4). It's what, unfortunately, I've come to expect.

At a recent council committee meeting, the mayor compared the Covid situation to a "wartime crisis" situation.

However, during the war, expenditure was pruned to the absolute minimum, no extravagance.

The council's costs were said to be under pressure.

This is right but the council blames things other than management, including financial losses from a drop in parking revenue.

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Another cost highlighted was increased legal costs including the landfill leachate case in which, after four years, the council admitted guilt. It was reported on November 20 that the case had cost the council $695,656.

Just think how much could have been saved if guilt had been admitted from the outset.

The chief executive was reported in the committee meeting as saying: "We've evidenced a fairly high level of financial prudence."

Definitions of "prudence" include "care", "caution", "judicious".

In my opinion, these are traits we haven't seen from the council - consider the performing arts centre, now $11.1m over budget, or the expected $75,000 consultancy cost for the organisational realignment that created seven deputy chief executives.

The coat must be cut to fit the cloth, more so in these uncertain times. That, in my view, would have been "prudent".

Paddi Hodgkiss
Rotorua

Batten down the hatches

The Rotorua Lakes Council could lose $4m-$5m by June 2022 was the headline in the Daily Post, December 3.

Rotorua Mayor Steve Chadwick compared the "uncertain waters" of the Covid-19 situation to a "wartime crisis".

The loss comes as no surprise to me.

To blame the situation on Covid is, in my opinion, a deflection away from poor decision-making by the council organisation.

In the past, I believe people who tried to pour cold water on grandiose ideas and extravagant expenditure were deemed negative and not part of the future vision for Rotorua.

Consider the Hemo Sculpture, Lakefront project, SHMPAC, Whakarewarewa Forest Hub, landfill court case and $75,000 organisational realignment as examples.

In a wartime crisis, people batten down the hatches, supplies are rationed and people watch their pennies as they prepare for difficulty and crisis.

To live beyond one's means is to spend more money than one can afford to spend.

From my perspective, it has been a battle for ratepayers to get the council to adopt basic business principles in times of hardship, by reducing expenditure rather than increasing it.

Tracey McLeod
Lake Tarawera

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