Covid 19 coronavirus: Whangārei District Council to cut $2m from staff running costs

The Whangārei District Council wants to cut $2 million from staff running costs to help deal with the fallout from Covid-19.

The Whangārei District Council is slashing $2 million from staff running costs. The move is to reduce the size of an original 5.2 per cent rates rise in the face of a Covid-19 recession.

"Based on the staff numbers we have now, there will be fewer employees in 12 months," Whangārei District Council (WDC) chief executive Rob Forlong said.

"We now have a sinking lid policy, with staff who leave not being replaced. Whilst I can't predict the future and how bad things are going to become, from what I know now, I am not expecting to have redundancies in the short to medium term."

Staff running-cost cuts covered several areas as well as the newly introduced sinking lid policy, he said.

"In the short to medium term recruitment has been frozen. Vacancies aren't being filled."
Some staff will be redeployed and training will also be cut.

"That approach will become more pronounced."

Forlong talked to WDC staff last week to update them. The council has 317 full-time equivalent staff.

The council is also slashing $3.7 million from other areas as part of redoing its 2020-21 budgets.

The $3.7 million includes cutting as much as $2.5 million from its consultants' and contractors' budget to $426 for sector publication subscriptions.

"Six to eight weeks ago, everything was looking rosy, now it's completely flipped on its head," he said.

The $5.7 million of cost-cutting comes as the council is expected to more than halve its 2020-21 rates rise to 2.2 per cent, from an originally scheduled 5.2 per cent increase.

WDC councillors are set to meet this tomorrow to decide on the rates reduction.

"We are facing an extraordinarily challenging balancing act at this time of major Covid-19 pandemic impact," Forlong said.

"We're building the plane while we're flying it, the whole of New Zealand is in that same boat. The goalposts move every day and sometimes every minute."

Reassessment of how to proceed into the new financial year in the wake of Covid-19 had clearly been needed. This had been sudden and intense with three months' worth of work compressed into two weeks of concentrated staff post-lockdown effort, Forlong said.

• Covid19.govt.nz: The Government's official Covid-19 advisory website