Local Government Minister: 'I expect QLDC to justify this CEO pay increase to ratepayers'

In a statement to Crux this afternoon Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has said that he expects the Queenstown Lakes District Council to be able to justify chief executive Mike Theelen's 15.5 percent salary increase to local ratepayers.

The minister added, "Like most New Zealanders, central government is having to prioritise the must-haves over the nice-to-haves. For the government, this means funding essential services and critical infrastructure.

"I expect local councils to adopt a similar approach, going line by line through their expenditure to ensure they are focussed on core business to keep rate pressures low for local communities.

"Ultimately an increase to CEO remuneration is an issue for local councils, and I expect Queenstown Lakes District Council to be able to justify this increase to local ratepayers."

There has been widespread criticism of the pay rise on social media today by local residents. Many people commented on what they saw as Mr Theelen's poor performance in terms of transparency and accountability.

There was also widespread comment on the fact that the QLDC had introduced recent rate rises of up to 24 percent, linked to budget blowouts such as the arterial road, while rewarding Mr Theelen with a steep pay rise.

Mayor Glyn Lewers had earlier explained the increase in terms of Mr Theelen's performance.

“Rapidly changing government priorities, major capital investment needs, maintaining high-quality levels of service to the community, and responding to the myriad needs of significant and sustained growth in the district is a relentless challenge," he said.

"A challenge that Mike continues to tackle head on.

"In this last year, this council delivered 88 percent of the capital programme; a substantial increase from previous years. Performance in areas such as resource consenting remains strong at 94 percent compliance within statutory requirements at a time of continued high application numbers. Maintaining Council’s AA- credit rating in a notably challenging economic environment has been a further achievement.”

However, Mr Theelen has been chief executive at a time when, by the council's own surveys, community satisfaction has dropped to an all time low of just 15 percent.

Analysis: That 15% pay rise - Theelen and Lewers' biggest mistake yet