Tauranga City Council commissioner Stephen Selwood has hit back at former elected Council members over statements suggesting the cost of consultants and contractors will rise to $23.3 million this year.

In a statement last week, the Tauranga Ratepayers Alliance claimed they were 'exposing” a rise in consultancy and contracting costs from $16.5 million last year to $23.3 million this year.

'This is yet another burden on ratepayers who are already footing the huge increase in Council staff salaries from $66.3 to $80.5 million this year,” says Ratepayers' Alliance spokesman Matthew Gill in relation to the LGOIMA information.

'Residents expected that Commissioners would work toward a more effective and efficient Council, but instead the opposite is happening. We're witnessing a blowout in both the size of the Council bureaucracy and the consultants that make a living from it.”

However, Selwood levied criticism at the Ratepayers' Alliance's members who previously sat on council before the Commission's arrival.

The Tauranga Ratepayers Alliance obtained the information through an Official Information request filed by member Steve Morris.

Morris is a previously elected Tauranga City councillor but was removed from the position in February after the current commissioners were appointed to take over council's governance responsibilities.

Morris, Dawn Kiddie, Andrew Hollis and Kelvin Clout were all on Council when the commission took over and all four, who remain named Councillors, are now members of the recently launched Ratepayer's Alliance.

Selwood was namechecked in the Ratepayers' Alliance release with it suggested he had been 'misleading” by defending 'skyrocketing Council staff salaries by suggesting this would avoid contractor costs when, at the very same time, he and his colleagues were approving a massive increase in contractor and consultant costs in the draft budget.”

Selwood suggests much of the suggested spending was in fact put in the draft budget by the previous council, making it clear that improvements to infrastructure will not be possible without an increase in outgoings.

'Interestingly, most of the proposed expenditure was put in the draft budget under the former elected council,” Selwood claims.

'Given that some of the principals of the Tauranga Ratepayers' Alliance are former Councillors, it should have been obvious to them that you can't significantly increase your capital works programme without also investing in planning and design, which is what most of the proposed increase in consultants and contractors costs relates to.

'For example, next year's cost increase for planning and design consultants for the three Waters activities – water, wastewater and stormwater upgrades – is $4.7 million alone.”

Council confirm the financial information obtained by the Ratepayers' Alliance is correct but take umbrage with the language related to timing which suggests the rise in costs 'this year”.

Council clarifies that $16.5 million relates to the 2021 budget for the year ending on 30 June and $23.3 million is the proposed budget for the 2021/22 year, subject to confirmation through the long-term plan consultation, hearings and deliberations processes.

Selwood suggests the increase in expenditure for the 2021/22 year is in response to the costs of the Long Term Plan, which opened for consultation last week.

He suggests that improvements to infrastructure are vital and the budget reflects the financial burden that may invoke and previous underinvestment from the former Council.

'Part of the proposed increase in the staff salary budget will allow the Council to replace consultants with salaried staff, but the scale of the capital expenditure programme proposed through the long-term plan also means that we need to provide for some significant increases in consultancy and contractor costs as well,” says Selwood.

"The strong message we have been receiving from people throughout the community is that we need to invest in a whole range of new and improved infrastructure, from community spaces and places – pools, playing fields, the proposed new library and community space in the CBD, and so on – to roads and water and wastewater system upgrades. Part of that is to catch-up on years of underinvestment, but it will also allow us to manage growth.”

The forecasted budget for contractors and consultants is projected to decrease in 2023 to $22,729 and again in 2024 to $19,706 – although both figures would sit higher than the $16,567 budget for 2020/21.

Selwood states that the consultation period for the Long Term Plan is now open and that submissions are encouraged to help the commission formulate the final plan.

He again makes his belief clear that in order to provide the improvements needed for Tauranga some expenditure will be necessary.

'There's no point making great plans for a better Tauranga if we don't have the capacity to deliver successful projects,” he says.

'We're therefore proposing to invest in planning, digital systems, maintenance services, staff and contractors, to ensure we are able to deliver on the city's investment priorities.”

The consultation period for the Long Term Plan runs until June 7 with adoption scheduled for July 30.