Council CEO pay to be set by independent umpire, not the council
The salaries of council CEOs will now be set by an independent umpire rather than councils themselves, amid sweeping changes aimed at bringing more accountability to local government.
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Council chief executives who are paid up to $360,000 each year by ratepayers are set to have their salaries set by an independent umpire for the first time.
Councils have also agreed to a raft of other State Government reforms, including forcing all local government candidates to declare if they are a member of a political party.
The Government has put forward 72 changes to the Local Government Act to improve performance across the sector. Councils have agreed the state’s independent Remuneration Tribunal should step in and set CEO salary ‘bands’ depending on the size of the council and workload. Currently councils make up their own minds about CEO salaries.
Local Government Association President Sam Telfer said councils had backed 54 of the reforms because they promoted efficiency and transparency and would cut red tape.
“We believe councils are already an efficient tier of government, but there are always opportunities for further improvement,’’ he said. “Our sector is ready for reform and we are keen to work with the Government and Parliament on sensible changes that will benefit our communities.’’
The Renumeration Tribunal has the powers of a court and already sets the pay rates for judges and politicians.
A council could only deviate from a tribunal decision with good reasons and would have to tell ratepayers why.
The reform process is the result of a lengthy compromise of hard line government plans, which began with a failed attempt to introduce rate capping.
In another big reform win for ratepayers, the State Government would pay millions of dollars in rate rebates for community housing, electricity providers, religious groups, public cemeteries and education institutions. These costs are currently forced on councils by the Government.
Councils have also agreed to the need for legislated and enforced standards of behaviour for elected members.
A Conduct Commissioner would rule on bad behaviour by councillors, rather than squabbling being delt with in-house. Local Government Minister Stephan Knoll welcomed the sector’s acceptance of a crackdown on councillors behaving badly.
“The LGA are supportive of many measures to crack down on rogue councillors who aren’t focused on delivering better services and lower costs for ratepayers,’’ he said.
But in a blow to the public’s right to know, councils would continue to discuss some items in secret and want to be allowed to include less information in their annual reports.