Two Wanganui district councillors are questioning how much their council has budgeted for training seminars.
Councillors Philippa Baker-Hogan and Rob Vinsen said that, while training seminars obviously had value for staff, they were questioning the worth of councillors being involved in them as well.
The issue has emerged after invitations went out to councillors to attend an infrastructure management workshop, to be held on October 6 in the council chambers.
Organised by Local Government NZ, the training day runs from 9.30am to 5pm, and the neighbouring mayors and councillors have also been invited.
LGNZ says the workshop aims to explain the principles of infrastructure management in local government "so participants improve their knowledge of relevant issues, including long-term financial forecasting and service levels in infrastructure asset management plans".
But Mrs Baker-Hogan and Mr Vinsen said it was the cost of the conference that concerned them and that they were unaware of that cost being included in the council's budget.
This seminar will cost the council $6250 plus GST if two or all of the councillors and the mayor attend. If more than 13 attend, it will cost $650 for each additional person.
Mrs Baker-Hogan said there had been "quite a bit" of email correspondence among councillors but the real cost of the event was never highlighted. She said she would register because infrastructure was a major budget item and she was not suggesting governance or professional development training never occurs.
"But I shouldn't have to ask where the budget for this training sits in our annual plan. It should be transparent and debated at each annual plan round.
"Elected members get invites from LGNZ for all types of conferences and, as far as I'm concerned, if I want to register, I can.
"But it's at the ratepayers' expense and that's wrong. Training must be prioritised on an individual and collective basis within a set budget and be reviewed for effectiveness versus cost," she said.
"I've never seen a political candidate ask for your vote so they can get upskilled to do the job at the ratepayers' expense. Yet there isn't a candidate out there who doesn't tell voters what skills and attributes they have to do the job.
"We are not elected to get educated at the ratepayers' expense," Mrs Baker-Hogan said.
"There's a balance between junkets and cost-effective relevant training and my concern is we have no clear process to ensure we stay at the right end of that."
Mr Vinsen questioned whether the seminar would deliver value for money.
"I have attended most of them but have usually come away saying to myself if it had been a good use of my time."
He said the council was being overwhelmed with seminars and conferences and questioning their value might prompt councillors to reassess their involvement.
"I think that senior staff do this role well and this may suffice on many subjects."