5 September 2023
Rex Widerstrom
Susan Sales
Senior Advisor Of icial Information and Privacy
[FYI request #23735 email]
04 570 6666 / 0800 488 824
[email address]
Our reference: LGOIMA
Dear Rex
Request for Information – Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987
(LGOIMA)
We refer to your official information request of 8 August 2023, asking for information about
human resources and residential rates.
Now that we have finished compiling information for our 2022/23 Annual Report, we provide
the following responses.
For each of the years from 2020 to 2023, how many performance-related dismissals have
occurred?
This information is withheld under section 17(2)(a), to protect the privacy of the individuals
concerned.
For each of the years from 2020 to 2023, what if any compensation has been paid to any staff
who were dismissed (to clarify, I am not seeking per-case data, only accrued annual data).
Severance payments made in any year by Hutt City Council are given in the Council’s Annual
Reports. The unaudited version of the Annual Report wil be published for the Audit and Risk
Subcommit ee meeting on 26 September 2023 and the Policy, Finance and Strategy
Commit ee on 16 October 2023, and the audited version wil be presented at the Council
meeting on 30 October 2023. You wil be able to find these documents on the Hutt City
Council’s website on the Infocouncil site.
The unaudited compensation paid for the 2022/23 year is $900.
Annual Reports for previous years are available on the Council’s website on the following link:
https://www.hut city.govt.nz/council/annual-plans-and-publications/annual-reports
As of August 2023, how many FTE roles exist, and how many are currently filed?
Staff numbers for Hut City Council are provided in our Annual Report. Full time equivalent staff
numbers at 30 June 2023 are 520. As at 5 September 2023, we’re recruiting to approximately
60 vacant positions.
As of August 2023, what is the average and median salary for Hutt City Council managers?
The combined personnel costs of the five Executive members is provided in the Council’s
Annual Report, and you wil be able to calculate the average (mean) salary from that
information. The 2022-23 Annual Report wil be published shortly on the Council’s website.
The mean average salary for all other Hutt City Council managers is $106,868 per annum and
the median average salary of these managers is $103,500 per annum.
As of August 2023, what is the average and median salary for staff classified as working in
communications roles?
The mean average salary for staf classified as working in communications roles is $93,727
per annum and the median average salary for these staff is $92,240 per annum.
As of August 2023, how many FTE infrastructure roles exist, and how many are currently
filled?
We have defined infrastructure roles as being those in the Council’s Transport, Water and
Riverlink teams. As at 4 September, these teams total 18 FTE (including support staff), and
there are approximately 8 vacancies.
As of August 2023, how many FTE regulatory roles exist, and how many are currently fil ed?
We have defined regulatory roles as being those in the Building, Resource Consent, Animal
Services, Environmental Health, Parking and LIM teams. As at 4 September 2023, these
teams total 87.8 FTE (including support staff) and there are approximately 10 vacancies.
As of August 2023, how many FTE customer service roles exist, and how many are currently
filled?
We have defined customer service roles as being those in the Council’s Contact Centre and
Front Counter. As at 4 September 2023, these teams total 8.75 FTE and there are
approximately 2 vacancies.
For each of the years from 2020 to 2023, what if any remuneration has been paid to any
contractors or consultants? For each of the years from 2020 to 2023, how many contractors or
consultants were employed and what was the average length of engagement?
The information is not readily available and would require substantial effort to collate.
Accordingly, your request for this information is refused under section 17(f) of the LGOIMA.
On what basis was the answer of $2,950 average residential rates, provided to the Taxpayers
Union survey, arrived at? How does this accord with the figures on page 257 of the Order
Paper for the Council meeting held on Friday 30 June 2023, which shows average residential
rates higher than that figure in every suburb bar one?
In short, two very dif erent methodologies are applied. Below is an extract of the methodology
requested by TU which is quite dif erent to the far more detailed and complex modelling that is
used for the Council papers (such as that of the 30 June 2023 meeting referenced). The
detailed modelling looks at the average property value and then does detailed calculations for
the various components of rates for that property (targeted rates for wastewater, water supply,
waste services and general rates). The TU survey relates to a dif erent financial year
compared to the Council paper on 30 June 2023 which is referencing rates for the 2023-24
financial year.
We advise that this response to your information request, including your name, may be
published on Hutt City Council’s website.
You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of this response.
Information about how to make a complaint is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or
freephone 0800 802 602.
Kind regards
Susan Sales
Senior Advisor Official Information and Privacy
