Christchurch city councillors will today vote on whether to build the contentious $683 million stadium Te Kaha, which could come with a hefty $144 annual rate rise.
Indicative design for the proposed Christchurch stadium Te Kaha Photo: Supplied
The project board has negotiated a fixed-price contract for the 30,000-seat multi-use arena, following a $150 million budget blowout blamed on rising international construction costs.
Councillors face three choices - spend the extra $150 million and build the covered stadium, hit the pause button and re-evaluate the project, or scrap it altogether.
The council received almost 30,000 public submissions on the project, 77 percent of which were in favour of building the stadium despite the escalating cost.
Councillor Sam MacDonald, deputy finance committee chairperson, said the fixed price was reassuring.
"We don't want a Town Hall 2.0, we don't want this to come back and blow out," he said.
"I think the certainty we've got should give some comfort to council and to the wider ratepayer that actually the additional money, as it's put on budget, will be full and final."
MacDonald said neighbouring councils should be asked to contribute to the arena, while the city council could potentially sell off land, such as the temporary stadium site in Addington, to save ratepayers from absorbing the extra cost.
Councillor Sara Templeton said there were no guarantee ratepayers would not be asked for more money and she wanted more detail about the contract.
"It's absolutely not clear how we will pay for this and if we don't find money elsewhere it all falls on ratepayers," she said.
"While we do need a stadium - it is the last piece in the jigsaw that is the rebuild of our city - we have to be really careful about how much money we spend when we've got the shifting of the organics processing plant, the rebuild of the South Library and of course climate change knocking on our door."
Templeton said she was not in favour of asset sales or cuts to community projects.
The government has pledged $220 million to the multi-use arena but does not intend to help the council cover the budget blowout.
There were strong views about the proposed stadium among people RNZ spoke to in Christchurch's CBD, including artist Ben Sampey who said the arena was a "vanity project" the city could not afford.
He said the millions would be better spent on housing and roads and a $144 rate rise would be tough on some households.
"I feel sorry for my friends who've just bought a home and have finally managed to get on the property ladder in this insane economy, and now it's going to cost them even more because of rates for stuff they don't want," he said.
Another man, who did not want to be named, did not believe the stadium would be a done deal at $683m.
But others like Cantabrian Harry Tyler said the arena would be a boon for the region.
"It will prove to be an asset to Christchurch and Canterbury and probably the South Island in a broader sense," he said.
A council report shows average residential rates would rise by $144 per year between 2025 and 2027, then decline slowly over 30 years as the debt was repaid.
If the project was abandoned, $40m in "sunk costs" would be lost and delays to redesign the stadium would likely result in further price increases, the report said.
On Tuesday board chairman Barry Bragg said contractor BESIX Watpac had set a fixed price of $683m.
"Based on the fixed price contract we have negotiated, we are confident the multi-use arena can be delivered for a total project cost of $683 million. That figure includes sufficient contingency to cover any issues that might emerge during the build," he said.
"While the overheated construction market means the total project cost is significantly higher than budgeted, the fixed price for design and construction means that if the council decides on Thursday it wants to proceed, ratepayers will be protected from any further cost increases."
Last year the council reversed a decision to slash the number of seats to 25,000 because of cost overruns, in response to public outcry.
If the council votes to build the arena, it would open in April 2026.