AMENDMENTS to Bega Valley Shire Council’s Draft Financial Strategy (DFS) were presented at last week’s meeting with a recommendation they be included and the strategy adopted.
One of the amendments was about the impact of pensioners on revenue.
The report stated the number of pensioners accessing annual rate rebates was currently 3300 and growing at around 5 per cent per annum.
The State Government subsidises 55 per cent of the pensioner rebate with a net annual cost of the rebate currently $616,050.
The net rebate erodes the annual rates yield by approximately 0.5 per cent per annum.
Any future rate variations and other revenue initiatives should have regard to the growing pensioner base and capacity to pay.
Councillor Pat Campbell moved the matter be deferred.
When asked his reasons Cr Campbell said: “When the strategy first came to council there was quite some discussion about the content and it was stressed to us about the need to get it out in the public arena for exhibition and comment and finalisation before June 30.”
“The final resolution was that we let it be a draft only and that it didn’t reflect council’s complete views,” he said.
“Today we have the report back to us and we will be introducing things that are paraphrased and really we don’t know what’s going to be in there.
“At this point in time I don’t think we can have this discussion.”
General manager Peter Tegart said that the report tried to summarise the things that council was planning and trying to do.
“State Government has produced a reporting guidelines document that we must have to adhere to,” he said.
“The DFS is required so we can follow that process and it is a statement that we will explore other ways of revenue raising, cost reductions, attraction of various other forms of financing, and that we will schedule and prepare a series of plans.
“One of those issues will be pay parking and I believe it is appropriate that we at least explore the notion of what pay parking will mean.”
Mr Tegart said that it was appropriate to have the DFS contain a “series of high level principles attached to it and proposals for a number of other plans to be produced”.
“There is certainly no obligation to have it adopted by June 30, it is merely that the DFS states...we will produce...these plans.”
Cr Graeme Wykes asked for clarification: “Basically what we’re saying is that this is only a strategy and there are no specifics if we adopt this.”
Mr Tegart said that was correct.
“All you are doing is setting a direction for the staff to go and prepare the next few steps for your consideration over the next few months.”
Cr Mike Britten then put the motion: “That the draft Financial Strategy be adopted as an interim policy document, including the reported amendments to enable staff to progress relevant plans, with full details of future plans and amendments to be considered by council prior to final adoption”.
“This allows us to move on in the interim and when all the amendments are finally before us and all the amendments with the final wording we can look at adopting it as a final document,” he said.
Cr Hughes asked if Cr Britten agreed with Mr Tegart that it was not a “concrete” document.
“It is still a strategy that will be referred to and followed in other documents,” Cr Britten said.
“It will be used for that purpose and we still get to look at the whole thing before final adoption.”
The motion was seconded by Cr Campbell and carried unanimously.
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