21 Aug 2025: crematorium, council CE remuneration

Media: Local Democracy Reporter

Topic: Crematorium

Enquiry

We have had a member of the public call in with some concerns over the Rotorua Crematorium.

They say it is closed, and have had to go to Taupo for alternative arrangements?

Is this the case? If so, is it temporary or longer term and what would the reason be?

If not, has it recently been closed for a short period of time for any reason which might explain our caller's experience?

Response

From a Council Spokesperson:

The crematorium is closed this week for essential maintenance on the cremation chamber floor. The work is expected to be finished this week, with services resuming on Monday, 25 August. All local funeral directors were notified a month ago of the crematorium maintenance shutdown.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Media: Radio NZ

Topic: Council CE remuneration

Enquiry

*Follow-up question relating to previous enquiry following Taxpayers’ Union news release about council CE salaries

Just a follow up question to this - what is Andrew Moraes current salary?

From same reporter to the office of the Mayor:

Can you please provide a statement from mayor Tapsell on the Taxpayers' Union's choice to list the total remuneration spent on the Rotorua Chief Exec role in the 23/24 financial year in their "CEO Rich List". It places Rotorua as the fourth highest paid council CEO in the country. Specifically -

• Is the 23/24 year a fair representation of what Rotorua pays the CEO each year?
• How do you think the Taxpayers' Union data has been interpreted by the community?
• Any other comment?

Response

We provided the following information:

The CE remuneration for FY25 is $338,139.

Please note that the amount is draft, unaudited as the 2024/25 Annual Report has not yet been adopted.

From Mayor Tapsell:

In addition to the comment already from RLC please find a response below from me as Mayor:

“The deception from Taxpayers Union of absurd remuneration levels is disappointing click bait that doesn’t acknowledge the significant changes we’ve made locally in Rotorua to cut costs and restructure our organisation to better serve our community.

It’s obvious this is not the usual remuneration but reflects the transition period as we appointed a new Chief Executive. I was quite surprised at their disrespectful and uninformed opinion on this matter and it’s difficult to correct misleading comments like theirs once it’s online.

I can appreciate that during tough times like these ratepayers want to know they’re getting the best value for money. When we’re recruiting a Chief Executive to deliver on our direction, we’re very conscious of ensuring we have the right person to be leading our organisation of more then 400 staff and $2 billion of public assets.

With responsibilities that large, unfortunately they also come at cost, but a good appointment means you’ll have a Chief Executive that can help deliver the cost reductions as we’ve been proving recently in Rotorua.”