23 February 2023
Media: TV1
Topic: Costs related to representation arrangements Bill
Enquiry
Can you please confirm it is correct that the council has spend more than $146,000 pursuing the Rotorua District Council (Representation Arrangements) Bill? If you have the specific figure to hand that's even better.
Response
We provided the following information (the same information provided to the Daily Post earlier this week):
Legal fees - $125,135.02 + GST
Social Media - $200.00 + GST
Public Notices - $1,983.24 + GST
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Media: Rotorua Daily Post
Topic: Council finances
Enquiry
Reporter sought a fact check for a story relating to council finances following the update provided at yesterday’s Council meeting.
I'm not asking for any comments, just confirmation this is accurate and factual.
- The organisation’s budget was expected to be in a deficit of $5.6m by the end of this financial year on June 30.
- There were potential cost savings of $2.7m which could whittle the original shortfall to just under $2.9m.
- That did not include the yet-to-be-finalised costs of Cyclone Gabrielle cleanup which could spiral beyond $800,000.
We hope to run this story online today given the meeting was yesterday so can you please let me know how long it would take to ensure those three points are accurate?
Response
We clarified that it was not correct to say there were ‘potential’ costs savings of $2.7m, that this was actual cost savings.
We noted that the rest was correct.