Tassie council berates its
own financial performance as rates rise
A local mayor says his
council needs to “take a good look at itself” in light of the budget for the
2019-20 financial year and will audit its service levels for potential savings.
A COUNCIL in Tasmania’s
North-West has berated its own financial performance as it raises rates by 4
per cent and reports an overall operating deficit of more than $1 million.
Circular Head Mayor Daryl
Quilliam says the council needed to “take a good look at itself” in light of
the budget for the 2019-20 financial year.
Cr Quilliam said taking on a
new indoor pool facility had hurt the council financially but benefited the
community and it was being well used.
“Taking on the Smithton
Wellbeing Indoor Recreation and Leisure centre has been a big thing for us, and while
it is operating at a loss there is no denying it’s an important community asset,” Mayor
Quilliam said.
“But with an overall
operating deficit of $1.06 million in the coming financial year, we really need
to take a good look at ourselves, how much we are spending and how we operate.”
The council will audit its
service levels to see if there were any savings or other efficiencies to be
made.
“That’ll include everything
from how often we grade roads, sweep the streets, clean facilities, empty bins and
the like,” Mayor Quilliam said.
He said rates would rise by 4
per cent next financial year which would ease some cost pressure.
The rate increase will come
at the same time as municipal revaluations, which are used to
calculate rates.
“This is why we need to be
clear with the community and ask them want they want, how much they are willing to pay
for, and whether they believe they are getting value for money,” Mayor Quilliam said.
The council’s capital works
program will be pared back to $2.6 million, the biggest item of which will be
the $800,000 Mawbanna Rd upgrade.
_________________________
Climate change to be a hot
topic at Hobart council meeting
UPDATED: The Hobart City
Council has joined more than 600 other jurisdictions around the world in
declaring a climate emergency.
JACK PAYNTER, Mercury| June 17, 2019 5:36p
UPDATED: HOBART has finally declared a climate emergency. After about a month of back
and forth with walkouts and amendments, the Hobart City Council on Monnight
voted 8-3 to declare a climate and biodiversity emergency.
They join more than 600 other
jurisdictions around the world who have also called it an emergency.
Council voted largely to
support Councillor Bill Harvey’s original motion that first went before council
on May 19.
Surprisingly, Alderman Jeff
Briscoe, whose amendment at last week’s planning committee meeting removed the
word emergency, voted tonight to reinstate it.
He said he had received a lot
of emails throughout the week.
EARLIER: CLIMATE change activists have packed the Hobart City
Council chambers in anticipation of tonight’s climate emergency non-emergency
motion.
The original motion — to
declare a climate and biodiversity emergency — was heavily amended by the
council planning committee last week to remove the word “emergency”.
Councillor Bill Harvey, who
brought the initial motion, has signalled he will put forward the original as
an alternative at tonight’s meeting to reinstate the emergency.
About 50 people have filled
the chambers at Hobart Town Hall to watch the debate, many carrying signs and
sporting costumes.
The topic has been hotly
debated since it was first raised as an urgency action on May 19 when three
aldermen — Briscoe, Damon Thomas and Simon Behrakis — walked out of the meeting
to stop it going to a vote.
Cr Harvey said declaring a
climate emergency was about a statement of leadership.
COMMENT: The question hanging in the air here is, should Launceston's Councillors get their knuckle rapped for handing down the unsustainable budget that it just has OR are they dragging on the ground in 'fiscal la-la-land'? Perhaps, fiscal planning should be outsourced to a body somewhere that has a handle on money management
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