Marion Council votes to leave Local Government Association

AN SA council has voted to be the first municipality to leave the Local Government Association - and the LGA says other councils will suffer.

Marion Council Mayor Kris Hanna. Picture: Stephen Laffer

MARION Council has voted to become the first municipality to quit the Local Government Association, making the move because it does not see its membership as providing value for money.

Mayor Kris Hanna used his casting vote at Tuesday night’s meeting to split a 5-5 tie on quitting the association.

The council will not pay its $93,000 annual fee for 2016/17, and the LGA now says it will have to review its budget and cut services to other councils in South Australia.

Mr Hanna said Marion was big enough to provide the services the LGA offered. Those include lobbying and preparing legal advice on new government legislation.

“I don’t think it’s good value to pay (almost) $100,000 to get that advocacy,” he said.

The council first voted to leave the LGA in August last year. In October, it reversed its decision after the LGA said it would still have to pay the full year’s fee even if it left.

The LGA promised to review what it charged each council, but its board voted in May to largely keep the current fee structure in place ahead of recommendations that would have led to higher fees for both the smallest and largest councils.

Marion is the smallest of eight councils which has to pay the maximum $92,000 fee, meaning it pays the most per resident.

The LGA collected $2.1 million from the state’s 68 councils in 2015.

LGA chief executive Matt Pinnegar said last night it was clear councillors understood “the consequences of this decision” and that all association services to the council would stop “as soon as practicable” in the new financial year.

“Unfortunately the consequences will be felt across the whole sector as we simply will not be able to maintain the same level of services we had budgeted for,” he said.