Health and wellbeing issues have come to light at Invercargill City Council amid a request for additional funding.

On Tuesday, an unbudgeted expense of $265,000 was approved by councillors for the organisation’s people and culture department.

A report created for the decision noted there was an “increase in tension” at the workplace.

“Due to the increase in harm events, workload stress and pressure there has been an increased need for support by the people and culture team of leaders and staff across the organisation,” the report said.

It noted there had been a jump in events which negatively impacted staff wellbeing, consistent with increased community anxiety and local government matters.

The money would be put towards the council’s people and culture team which was in high demand, in part because of the tension.

Community engagement and corporate services group manager Trudie Hurst said the adjustment would help meet health and safety obligations.

“To put this simply, our capacity has been impacted by an increase in demand,” she said.

The additional funding would be spent on specialist contractors for the remainder of the financial year, a platform for capability testing, and recruitment agencies.

Mayor Nobby Clark supported the boost, saying the council’s HR department was small in relation to the number of employees.

“I can understand why they’re stressed,” he said.

Deputy mayor Tom Campbell said it would be inappropriate for councillors to prevent the investment but noted employee costs had an overspend of more than $1 million in the last financial year.

He called on the organisation to drive down those costs and stay within budget.

Mana whenua representative Evelyn Cook said people were the council’s biggest asset with those behind the scenes just as important.

“I spend my life on marae. If the back is not working, never mind how flash the clothes are on the people at the front,” she said.

“The cracks show.”

While there was no guarantee the additional funding could be found internally, chief executive Michael Day said staff would aim to keep the adjustment within existing budgets.

If that was not possible, an indicative rating increase of 0.02 percent would be included in the 2025/26 annual plan to cover the cost of a loan.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air