$3m overspend frustrates Tasman councillors

Transport and water supply repairs were driving Tasman District Council's maintenance budget towards a $3 million overspend. Photo: Max Frethey / LDR

Maintaining Tasman's infrastructure this financial year is expected to cost $3 million more than was budgeted for, and the district's councillors aren't happy.

Actual figures up until 31 December 2024 show an overspend of almost $3.3m dollars, largely driven by unexpected water supply and transportation repairs.

Forecasts to 30 June 2025 - the end of the Tasman District Council's financial year - show a slightly reduced maintenance overspend but will still be more than $3.1m over budget.

Elected members were frustrated by the forecast deficit when presented with the figures on Thursday.

Councillor Christeen Mackenzie wanted greater input into mitigating measures to offset the overspend.

"We're just being presented with the fact that actually we set a budget, we have no choice, and we're going to be $3 million over," she said.

"At no point actually … have we been given options and choices to be made."

Councillor Brent Maru agreed and said that he would have expected a report with mitigating options to be presented to them "well before" the council reached its current situation.

Chief financial officer Mike Drummond said the council was "caught between a rock and a hard place" with its maintenance budgets.

"There are works that are outside of our budget permitted, but we can't not deal with them - large water leaks, wastewater overflows, those sorts of things."

Richard Kirby, the council's group manager of community infrastructure agreed.

He highlighted that reactive maintenance works had trended upwards last year and, when setting its budgets last year, the council "took a punt" and set a tight budget, hoping the number of repairs dropped.

"As it turns out, it hasn't dropped, it's probably increased."

Both officers, however, assured councillors that future reports would provide mitigating options for councillors to consider.

Mayor Tim King welcomed the suggested approach, and said the cost of the repairs was a "significant challenge".

Mayor Tim King said the maintenance budget had been deliberately kept "tight" to avoid rating residents unnecessarily. Photo: Max Frethey / LDR

"We need a better way of addressing it than just getting a report that said 'it is what it is'."

However, he said a balance would need to be struck so the council didn't find itself having to approve spending to fix every water leak.

King added that the council had deliberately set a "far tighter slash riskier" budget due to mounting cost pressures.

"That was a conscious decision that we made, to not collect money off the ratepayer unless it was absolutely necessary."

Councillor Kit Maling warned his colleagues about the future challenges in keeping costs low as the cost of maintaining infrastructure continues to bite.

"It's going to be a very difficult year going forward. We either put the rates up or we do less."

Local Democracy Reporting is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air