Ratepayers foot the bill for mayoral wanderings

John Banks liked the grandeur of the Auckland Town Hall. Dick Hubbard prefers the accessibility to staff and councillors at the Civic Building.

But all this relocating of the mayoral office comes at a cost for the Auckland City ratepayer.

It cost $8463 to move Mr Banks' office from the Civic Building to the Town Hall, plus $8000 to upgrade a garage carpark for whichever luxury marque - Bentley, Ferrari or Mercedes - the avid car collector drove to work.

Now Mr Hubbard is moving back to the Civic Building at a cost of $44,000 for fittings and furniture as part of a wider upgrade of the 15th floor of the 38-year-old council headquarters.

For the past three years, the council has been stripping asbestos and ceiling tiles for health and safety reasons and refurbishing each floor at a cost of between $450,000 and $500,000.

The 15th floor, which includes committee meeting rooms and the mayor's office until Mr Banks moved to the Town Hall in 2001, is one of the last floors in the 18-storey building to be refurbished, at an estimated cost of $563,450.

This does not include $193,550 for audio-visual and technical equipment, lighting and furniture for the committee rooms, reception and office areas.

A total of $44,000 of the cost is for the mayor's office in fittings and furniture for civic purposes.

Mr Hubbard has been adamant from day one on the need to move back to the Civic Building to be closer and more accessible to staff and councillors, who have offices, a lounge and support staff on the 14th floor.

He is expected to move from the Town Hall in March, when the 15th floor refurbishment is due to be completed.

A notice of motion from councillor Noelene Raffills for Mr Hubbard to stay in the Town Hall because it was "more in keeping with the dignity of the position of mayor of a global city" was lost at a council meeting last week.

The council has agreed on a salary structure for councillors and community board members. Deputy Mayor Dr Bruce Hucker will be paid $78,800, chairs of major committees $68,167, minor committee chairs $52,000, councillors $42,000 and community board members between $5945 and $19,197.

The Remuneration Authority has fixed Mr Hubbard's mayoral salary at $149,413.