Parts of the papers were blanked out before release.
While the Government approved the top-up, it is the cash-strapped board that pays Mrs Grant's $1400-a-day remuneration.
"The personal risk to Ms Grant's reputation is similarly high, as finding a more sustainable solution to improve the DHB's financial position in a short period of time, will ultimately impact her own professional standing,'' the paper says.
"Ministry officials propose that you seek an exception to the fees framework to allow Ms Grant to be paid a fee of $1400 per day up to a capped limit of $180,000 per annum, which is outside of the range for a group 4, level 1 body.''
Information on the State Services Commission's website shows a maximum daily pay of $1062 in that band.
Mrs Grant yesterday rejected the claim she was installed to carry out the Government's ''dirty work'', and said she had been open all along about needing to make changes.
The problems would not be solved within her 18-month term but the "way forward" would be identified, Mrs Grant said.
Her first day on the job was June 18, when she fronted a press conference in Dunedin with Dr Coleman.
Dr Coleman told media there were no plans to axe local health services or make short-term changes.
He said the commissioner had plenty of time to analyse the situation. Pinpointing the exact deficit level was the first step.
"The first thing I want is some certainty over what the deficit number should be - and that's fluctuated wildly over the past year," he said on June 18.
That task appears to be harder than Dr Coleman had hoped, however. Last Saturday the Otago Daily Times revealed the commissioner and her team were having difficulty determining the true deficit projection - it fluctuates between $30million and $42million - because of a lack of staff and out-of-date equipment.
Yesterday, Dr Coleman's spokeswoman said he was unavailable.
Dr Coleman had earlier declined to comment on the deficit projection problem.
Meanwhile, Dr Coleman's office has released a letter from dumped board chairman Joe Butterfield, who warned the minister against sacking the board.
The timeframe to the next year's health board elections was too short for an appointed commissioner to achieve anything significant, he said in the June 10 letter.
It would be difficult for the person to get up to speed, especially if they did not have a health sector background, Mr Butterfield said.
"It will create significant potential problems at the next local body elections if it galvanises strong opposition to perceived government intentions, whether real or otherwise."
The board would make the tough changes required over the coming 18 months, he said.
"These issues are likely to involve significant levels of both political and community angst and the board has a fear that the removal of community representation and the imposition of a commissioner structure will make the communication and understanding of these kinds of service change much more difficult, and increase the likelihood of a later stand-off between a newly elected board and the minister's appointed members."
Ministry of Health DHB performance acting director John Hazeldine said in a statement the process for assessing the future configuration and delivery of services for the region was under way.
"The commissioner has been asked to deliver a solution that will ensure the DHB is able to continue to deliver high-quality health services within the budget it receives each year from Government.''
