The mayor of Christchurch is demanding to know why the council's investment arm didn't alert it sooner to a shortfall in its profits.
Lianne Dalziel Photo: RNZ
Councillors have been debating the city's draft annual plan on Tuesday.
It originally proposed a rates rise of 6.5 percent, but has recently been revised to 7.96 percent to cover the cost of flood damage and future protection.
Christchurch City Council corporate services spokesperson Diane Brandish said an unexpected drop in profits from the Christchurch Airport is partly to blame for the drop in revenue the Council was expecting from its investments.
She said a drop in profits from City Care had been flagged but not one from the airport.
"Normally we would look for other savings within the total budget to offset the City Care loss, but because we had already applied all of those we were left in a position where there were no further savings that we could find."
Diane Brandish said the savings were eaten up by the $10 million cost of the overhaul of the council's consenting department.
Mayor Lianne Dalziel said officials should have told councillors about the shortfall sooner.
"Why on earth wouldn't they tell us before February when we were doing our plan that they were going to provide less than they advised us they would provide. I want to drill in to them and understand why they wouldn't notify us earlier and why we weren't alert to it."
Lianne Dalziel has asked the council's financial advisors if there are any other funding revenues that can be explored.
