Invercargill mayor may not sign compliance statement

Invercargill Mayor Nobby Clark has forewarned he may not sign off a compliance statement required as part of the already-delayed annual report process

The council has been in a longstanding dispute with Audit New Zealand over whether it should have revalued property, plant and equipment for the year ended June 2021. As a result the auditors are unhappy at base figures used for the following year.

The council disagrees. It has a policy of revaluing every three years and had chosen not to revalue early.

The council and has also berated the department for what it depicts as its slow and uncommunicative performance throughout the audit process.

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The council’s audit and risk committee met this morning, and chairman Bruce Robertson noted the consequences of the “professional disagreement’’ in the “qualified’’ status of the audit finding.

The committee agreed to recommend that the full council, which is due to meet at 4pm today, sign off the delayed annual report for the year ending last June,

Clark told the committee that, subject to the outcome of meetings later in the day, he did not intend to sign the compliance statement – a required part of the process – until the issue of Audit New Zealand’s performance was resolved.

“It seems to me it’s the only tool that’s available to me at the moment,’’ he said.

Roberson, citing support from fellow independent committee member Ross Jackson, urged Clark not to follow that strategy.

“Deep and meaningful’’ discussions with the department were needed, but there was also a matter of immediate accountability regarding the overdue plan.

Audit New Zealand director Dereck Ollsson attended the committee hearing.