Angela O'Leary spent $790 on a Koru Club membership from her professional development budget. Photo: RNZ / Andrew McRae
Hamilton councillors have spent $42,000 of ratepayer money upskilling themselves, including $3000 on a two-day course in Canada and $790 on a Koru Club membership.
Professional development budgets are allocated to each elected member to spend on training and attending conferences and meetings relevant to their roles and portfolios.
This year, under pressure to cut costs in the face of a 16 percent rate rise, Hamilton City Council slashed the PD budgets in half, from $6000 each per year to $3000.
Angela O'Leary, a long-time city councillor who became deputy mayor this term, said the Koru Club membership was for the year she was appointed to a Local Government New Zealand working group in Wellington.
O'Leary said she was expected to do a lot of travel during that period and "it was thought appropriate for the deputy, as with the mayor".
"I'm no longer required to travel so it won't be renewed."
Air New Zealand currently advertises annual memberships at $775 and benefits include access to the airline's lounges, of which there is a small one at Hamilton Airport.
In total, O'Leary spent $3472 in the 2023/24 financial year on professional development, including almost $2500 on attending LGNZ conferences in Wellington.
She has not spent any of her PD budget so far this year.
Councillor Ewan Wilson, chair of the economic development committee, spent $3033 on tuition fees for a two-day leadership seminar at the McGill Executive Institute in Canada in April 2023.
Wilson, who previously lived in Canada, paid for his own airfares to Montreal, Quebec for the course because it exceeded his PD budget.
Wilson said the seminar was about effective leadership aimed at equipping current leaders with "additional tools for their leadership toolbox".
"I think the cost of the course was basically the same as attending the local government conference in Wellington," he said.
"It was a worthwhile course from a well-recognised institution and is absolutely in my mind totally appropriate that as chair of economic development of New Zealand's fastest-growing city that I try to keep my skills up to date.
"The whole concept of personal development is that we're given a budget - and our budget's been cut in half - and that elected members get to choose to attend training for conferences or a learning opportunity that will help them do their work and add value to their participation."
His entire spend for the year was exactly $6000 and included $2112 for registration and airfares to attend an infrastructure conference in Wellington.
Councillor Melaina Huaki spent $4535 from her professional development budget in 2023/24. Photo: Hamilton City Council / supplied
So far this financial year, Wilson has spent $2735 for Sister City visits to Chengdu in China and Saitama in Japan to "build stronger relationships with Sister Cities".
He again paid his own airfares.
His trip came at the same time the council was reviewing the benefit of its five Sister City relationships, the outcome of which will go to the economic development committee.
In April, mayor Paula Southgate travelled to Ieper (Ypres) in Belgium on a Sister City visit for Anzac Day but the trip, which her husband accompanied her on at his own expense, was not funded through her PD budget.
Southgate's spend totalled $1706, of which $1688 was to attend the LGNZ conference in Christchurch.
For the 23/24 year, councillor Emma Pike spent $5262 of her budget, including $3833 for accounting study at the University of Waikato.
Councillor Melaina Huaki, who quit the council earlier this year after being queried about her low meeting attendance rate, spent $4535 including on environmental training on making good decisions.
Councillor Louise Hutt spent $4340, including for an urban economics short course.
The highest spend so far this year is $2951 for courses and accommodation in Auckland by councillor Anna Casey-Cox.
The only councillors who did not use any of the PD budget in both financial years were former deputy mayor Geoff Taylor, east ward councillor Kesh Naidoo-Rauf, and first-term councillor Andrew Bydder.
Councillor Tim Macindoe only joined the council earlier this year.
A council spokesperson said if PD budgets were unspent they did not roll over.
In 2021 the PD budget was also slashed in half from $6000 to $3000.