Rotorua Lakes Council. Photo: NZME
By Laura Smith for Local Democracy Reporting
Rotorua's council has voted behind closed doors to support proposals to axe at least 11 council jobs, in a bid to cut spending and limit rates rises.
The shaping of the Rotorua Lakes Council's draft Annual Plan 2023-24 was done in three public-excluded sessions, prompting criticism the process was secretive.
When the draft plan went out for community consultation last week, the council also released a confidential report and minutes from one of the sessions, which included details of the options for service delivery that elected members voted to include in the draft plan.
The proposed roles the council voted to support disestablishing were listed in it, with salary savings totalling $1.03 million.
It does not detail how each elected member voted but lists who moved and seconded each item, and any who abstained.
The draft Annual Plan proposed a debt increase of $51m, a $141m capital projects programme and a rates increase of 7.2 percent.
A raft of cuts to services and funding were proposed with the aim of saving almost $30m. Fee rises, including for parking and pool use, were also proposed.
The document detailing which options were considered in the development of the plan specified 11 roles the council voted to support disestablishing or relinquishing.
The roles included the vacant "deputy chief executive - chief executive office" position, which the document said would result in a $200,000 "salary saving".
Elected members also supported the proposal to "disestablish" the roles of event attraction manager, financial services manager, volunteer and creative communities research analyst, and to "relinquish" five information solutions roles.
These were the customer solutions manager, information data officer, service desk lead, senior test lead and senior business analyst.
The consultation document for the draft plan did not explicitly detail proposed job cuts. However, it mentioned "reducing capacity and resourcing" in some areas, as well as a proposal to save $473,000 by "consolidating" vacant IT positions.
It was not clear if other proposals in the plan, such as the potential axing of specific education programmes, would result in job losses.
It also proposed a 5 percent increase to the staff remuneration pool to help address the council's staff shortage.
"It is increasingly difficult to recruit talent in a market where the employee can name their price," the consultation document said.
Councillor Fisher Wang emphasised the importance of the community providing feedback on the proposals in the open council meeting where the draft plan was approved for consultation and on his political social media.
A post last week detailed his concerns about the draft plan, including the potential job cuts.
"Roles and funding to attract and sponsor big events like the NRL game and Lakeside Concert would be cut alongside so much more.
"We would lose the knowledge, experience and passion of staff associated with these programmes."
Concern job cuts will impact services
The PSA is the union for council employees, and organiser Kirstin Miller said any restructuring created uncertainty for all employees. She said the union indicated its concern about potential restructuring to the council last month.
"Many of the impacted staff have worked at the council for some years so the prospect of losing your job is creating real stress, particularly at a time of high living costs."
She said there was also no guarantee anyone whose job was disestablished would be given priority consideration for new positions, which was a concern given the experience impacted staff had.
"We are concerned that Rotorua Lakes is launching a cost-cutting exercise which will cost jobs and impact the quality of services the community enjoys."
Council chief executive Geoff Williams said as the plan was out for consultation it would be inappropriate to comment on any potential impact on employment.
"However, staff have been informed that there may be potential impacts on roles within the organisation as a result of what is being proposed."
He said the finalised Annual Plan will be adopted at the end of June which is when any changes for staff would be confirmed.
He said the proposals elected members supported were outlined in the consultation document.
Local Democracy Reporting also asked the council for the total number of jobs that may be lost as a result of what was proposed in the plan and how many of these positions were currently vacant.
Other options presented to councillors that are detailed in the confidential minutes included stopping the renewals of pensioner housing for 2023/24 and investigating the sale of the housing stock to an alternative provider. This would have resulted in a $590,000 capital spend saving, but the proposal was taken off the list councillors voted on.
Two options that were not supported by the council and did not make the draft Annual Plan were to stop CCTV enhancements, which would have saved $360,000, and to stop rural seal extensions for the next year, to save $800,000.
Consultation on the draft Annual Plan closes on May 12 and details can be found on the council website.
Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air.