DVML works media/DCC to spend more ratepayer money

Dunedin Venues Management Ltd (DVML) has been testing the stadium sound system since February, and has discovered it is only working at 20% of what is needed.

Queries about the sound system were only some of a barrage of questions from Dunedin city councillors before they adopted the annual reports of DVML and Dunedin Venues Ltd this week.

### ODT Online Sat, 12 Oct 2013
Stadium PA fix up to $800,000
By Debbie Porteous
Permanently fixing problems with Forsyth Barr Stadium’s public address system would cost between $500,000 and $800,000.
DVML chief executive Darren Burden said the cost did not include permanently fixing sound issues with the wider auditorium, such as those experienced at concerts. They would continue to be addressed by temporary measures installed by promoters.
He said DVML had been working with acoustic engineers and sound system experts, including the company that installed the system. There were problems with the transmission of sound from microphones on the pitch to the sound box that delivered sound to speakers around the stadium.
The solutions, which ranged in price depending on what standard of sound delivery was wanted, involved improving the sound transmission from the field and installing more speakers around the stadium.
The cost of fixing it had to be dealt with internally by DVML.
Read more

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Head in the Sand Award?
Cr Richard Thomson said he appreciated Mr Burden (pictured) might wonder why he bothered when faced with such a barrage of questions from councillors. ”But it is really important for the city that this delivers as much revenue as possible.” (via ODT)

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Comment at ODT Online:

Who is accountable?
Submitted by russandbev on Sat, 12/10/2013 – 9:06am.

Just another example of the difference between reality and hype. Ratepayers have been assured since the building of this rugby stadium that the PA system was state of the art. Indeed, the hype from the Carisbrook Stadium Trust before the build indicated that it was even better than that. Now ratepayers are told that it will cost the best part of a million to get right for the most basic of requirements, and that the costs of running the stadium will rise. Who is being held accountable? Not those responsible for this ongoing shambles, but only the ratepayers.

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20.6.13 Stadium: DVML, DVL miserable losers! #grandtheftdebt
30.12.12 To DVML Board, from Ian Tayor [sic]
11.12.12 Stadium: DCC runs amok with $750K annual subsidy to DVML
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19.10.12 LGOIMA request: Breakdown of DVML recruitment costs [emails]
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11.10.12 Darren Burden plays LGOIMA game like Davies #DVML #PsychoAnswer

For more, enter the terms *dvml*, *darren burden* or *stadium* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

DCC councillors, no idea annual cost of owning, operating FB Stadium

Updated 2013/10/08 at 10:47 am.

Platitudes — and much more, including seriously remiss untruths about the ‘value’ of councillor contributions — flew at yesterday’s city council meeting. Dunedin City Council members farewelled five long-serving councillors at their final meeting: Neil Collins, Syd Brown,
Bill Acklin, Fliss Butcher and Colin Weatherall.

Councillors said Cr Brown was a fair-minded and trusted member, a consistently hard worker who made a ”very substantial” contribution, especially on financial issues and as a strong advocate for Mosgiel, in his 15 years on council. ”He is a wise old owl. When he speaks, I listen and know we all do,” Cr Collins said.

Read more at ODT Online.

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Comment received.

JimmyJones
Submitted on 2013/10/07 at 6:31 pm

The average DCC councillor still has no idea of the annual cost of owning and operating the FB Stadium. They have been misled by the way the annual reports are arranged and they get confused because there are two stadium companies with similar names, as well as an interest cost to the DCC for the loan to buy the shares to buy the stadium.

Jim Harland, Paul Orders and their staff have been asked many times to disclose the total financial impact of the stadium. Mr Orders eventually promised to do this at an annual plan public meeting, but it hasn’t happened.

The annual reports of the stadium companies (DVL & DVML) to be approved today by our hapless councillors, have enough info to calculate a good estimate of the total cost.

These figures are from the annual reports page 6 (DVL) and page 9 (DVML). Remember that in these reports the term “subvention payment” means “subsidy” and has the effect of disguising the size of the companies’ losses. The city’s renters and ratepayers end up paying for both the disclosed losses and the subsidies so we need to add them together to get the total impact.

Total Stadium Impact:
Item:___Disclosed Loss_____Subsidy_______Total Loss
DVL:______$4.8 million______$7.3 million_______$12.1 million
DVML:_____$1.0 million______$0.6 million_______$1.5 million
Cost of interest on debt for DVL shares:________$5.1 million
Cost of rates subsidy for DVML (approx):_______$2.0 million
Total Ratepayer Impact (approx):_______$20.7 million

The DCC held stadium debt is $78 million and I have chosen the interest rate to be 6.5%. There might be some other costs that I haven’t thought of. The actual interest rates paid by DVL seems unrealistically low to me at 5.87%. Most DCC projects are charged 7.00%, so DVL’s low interest rate could amount to a secret subsidy of $1.6 million.

Anyway, $20.7 million per year is a lot of money and citizens and councillors need to know what is going on. We have heard DCC mayors and councillors promise financial transparency, but it seems that some of them have wanted to keep this figure quiet.

[ends]

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Image: odt.co.nz – departing city councillors who brought you the stadium, one way or the other . . .