The auditor-general has been asked to investigate the Invercargill City Council's handling of its Don St development. Invercargill Ratepayer's Advocacy Group spokesman Nobby Clark said he had lodged a complaint with the auditor-general calling for an investigation into the project, which has had a $4.5million budget blowout. Invercargill City Council chief executive Clare Hadley showed in a report to the council last December that the city had paid $1.4million for Todd's Auction House which was ''funded from reserves''. Mr Clark sbelieved the other $2.3million of the $4.5million blowout was indirectly financed by a 2017 mortgage taken out against properties on lower Esk St that the council had bought in 2011. Interim director of finance Dave Foster yesterday confirmed ''the loan which was drawn down against the Lower Esk St properties was drawn for the purposes of contributing funding to the Don St development, and has been used for such''.

Source: Otago Daily Times March 13, 2019 15:33 UTC