Councillor queries DCHL repayments

THE Dunedin City Council has missed out on a multimilliondollar windfall from one of its companies, as efforts continue to pay back a $40 million bill for borrowed dividend payouts.

A betterthanexpected result by City Forests, a councilowned company, had generated a larger dividend payment to City Forests’ parent company, Dunedin City Holdings Ltd.

City Forests had been expected to make a $5 million dividend payment to DCHL for the year to June 2018, but had instead passed on $8 million.

However, the money has not made its way back to the council, instead being used to accelerate the repayment of debt raised by DCHL to fund previously inflated dividend payments to the council.

The situation was disclosed in DCHL’s annual financial report, presented to Tuesday’s DCC finance and councilcontrolled organisations committee meeting.

Cr Hawkins queried the figures and asked why the council did not get to decide how the money was used, but council financial controller Gavin Logie said the debt repayment reflected existing council policy.

Council chief executive Dr Sue Bidrose told the meeting DCHL had accrued $40 million in debt — without associated assets being accrued — while borrowing money to meet an earlier council request for inflated dividends.

The practice had ceased as a result of an overhaul of DCHL and its finances, beginning in 2011, and resulted in a dramatic decline in annual dividend, interest and subvention payments from DCHL to the council.

The payments — which were used to offset council rates — had been reduced from $23.2 million in 2012 to $5.9 million in 201718, including a complete halt on dividends to the council for at least the next three years.

Since then, DCHL had been working to pay back the accumulated dividend debt, which had now dropped to $23 million.

That was in line with the council’s wishes for the companies to get back on a more sustainable footing, but came at a cost when a windfall like City Forests’ came in.

‘‘That is money we are not able to spend. It’s belttightening we have had to do ... but at the moment we have said it’s their priority to pay off that unproductive debt,’’ Dr Bidrose said.

Also on Tuesday, Mr Logie told councillors the council’s Waipori Fund was performing well, despite a turbulent period on international markets, gaining 3.3% to $89.8 million in the quarter to September.

The fund was expected to have taken a hit in October, before stabilising in November, and was still performing better than benchmarks, ‘‘albeit the benchmark was negative’’, he said.

❛ It’s belttightening we have had to do . . . but at the moment we have said it’s their priority to pay off that unproductive debt Sue Bidrose