The review said $15 million-$37m could be found by cutting staff to “right-size” the council.
The number of staff employed at the council has remained fairly stagnant in recent years, sitting at around 1800 since 2020, but the council’s wage bill has increased by more than $15 million over that period.
Prosser called in consultancy firm Deloitte in August to take a critical look at the state of the organisation.
Some changes have already been made, with 58 roles removed in recent months, all of which were vacant.
Better financial oversight, which the report describes as spend optimisation, could see $21m-$42min savings.
A reduction in the number of managers at the council by between 69 and 117 would save ratepayers up to $16.8m.
The council could also implement somewhat of a sinking-lid policy, to only fill 50% of vacant positions.
It would be a reduction of 117 roles, saving $11.8m.
“We face some major challenges, but we are determined to do better, and we will,” Prosser said in a statement.
Wellington City Council CEO Matt Prosser.
Some of Deloitte’s recommendations will be at odds with the wishes of voters and the decisions previously made by the Council, Prosser said.
While many changes will be able to be made at an operational level, large-scale changes like cutting services would likely have to go before the council.
“It’s important we don’t get ahead of the democratic decision processes at the heart of local government. We will critically assess everything in the report against the needs and aspirations of our communities.”
Duplication of roles was identified as an organisation-wide issue in the report, with 48 positions in the firing line, most from the planning and project management teams. Cuts to those roles could save the council $6.2m.
“The rationale for Council involvement in the provision of services, particularly where private providers are active, lacks strategic clarity or clear financial analysis” it states.
“There are opportunities to generate more revenue from uncollected debt, commercial partnerships, and charges for services”.
‘There will be change’ – Mayor
Mayor Andrew Little said the report does not directly recommend cuts, but said the council can not continue to operate as it currently is.
“There will be change, of course there has to be, but this is a large organisation and that change will be considered and methodical,” Little told media at the council’s headquarters this afternoon.
It comes after an election where Little campaigned on bringing down council spending and reigning in rates rises.
The mayor has also recently established a working group to review council spending line by line.
Wellington Mayor Andrew Little said change is needed after revelations the council is overstaffed. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Prosser, speaking alongside Little, said the report does not spell immediate layoffs, “we’re not talking about any job cuts here what we’re talking about is very carefully managing vacancies,” he said.
Any changes to services, which would in turn result in job cuts, would be for the councillors to decide, he said.
Little said the report made it “pretty apparent that there are savings to be had, there are greater efficiencies to be achieved, there is change to be managed and implemented”.
“Some of that might be around the way people do their jobs, the scope of people’s jobs, things like that.”
PSA slams ‘slash and burn’ report, urges council to bin it
The Public Service Association (PSA) is calling for the report to be rejected, calling it a “flimsy PowerPoint presentation that lacks any depth”.
PSA national secretary Duane Leo said in a statement that cutting nearly one in five staff is “slash-and-burn cost-cutting, not a serious analysis of how to improve the council’s operations”.
Leo said it is “based on crude benchmarking that ignores Wellington provides services many other councils don’t, including social housing, city safety programmes and addressing homelessness”.
“It also ignores the fact an extra 22,000 people come into the city every day for work.”
Ethan Manera is a Wellington-based journalist covering Wellington issues, local politics and business in the capital. He can be emailed at ethan.manera@nzme.co.nz.