Brisbane City Council budget reveals debt up, $120m wage cuts

Brisbane City Council’s “liabilities’’ reached $6bn and almost 500 former staff haven’t been replaced, with $120m in cuts to wages looming over the next four years.

Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner this week. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

Brisbane City Council’s liabilities has passed $6bn and almost 500 former staff haven’t been replaced, with $120m in cuts to wages looming over the next four years.

The Mid-Year Budget Review, tabled at the last council meeting of the year on Tuesday, also revealed delays to the Victoria Park works program and millions less for suburban enhancement.

Liabilities have risen $44 million to $6.3 billion, although assets were worth $39.5 billion.

The net debt outlined in the June Budget was much lower at about $3.5 billion.

But finance and city governance chair Fiona Cunningham said council had more than 8000 employees and numbers had always fluctuated based on demand.

“Most staff leave council voluntarily, and decisions regarding replacements are based on current requirements,’’ she said.

“Our approach is in stark contrast to the former Labor State Government which hired tens of thousands of public servants while youth crime was rampant and ambulance ramping spiralled out of control.

“We’re committed to ensuring Brisbane maintains the cheapest rates in southeast Queensland and ensuring we don’t add unnecessary costs on to residents.’’

The Mid-Year Review showed the Better Suburbs program, a scheme to fund footpath and kerb upgrades, green spaces, street furniture and connectivity, would cop a $3.5 million trim this year and almost $1 million into next year.

There was currently one project under way in Nundah, but Labor opposition leader Jared Cassidy claimed there now were question marks over the future of proposed projects in Stafford, Wynnum Indooroopilly and Salisbury.

Council opposition leader Jared Cassidy

He said answers released on Tuesday to a question on notice showed 572 permanent staff had left council in the past 12 months, but only 99 of those positions had been filled.

“On top of this, we recently learned that Brisbane City Council library staff numbers have

been cut by around 30 positions in the past two years,’’ he said.

“Right across the board, we hear from staff who are being overworked because contracts are ending without the position being filled.’’

He said about $56 million had been cut from wages this year, with the current enterprise bargaining agreement proposing to slash redundancy provisions from three weeks per year to two weeks.

Mr Cassidy said the EBA was offering only a 3 per cent pay rise, despite an independent remuneration tribunal awarding councillors 4 per cent, backdated.

But council’s LNP-dominated administration said staff wages had risen 18 per cent since lockdown, including two 7 per cent rise in two years.

Independent councillor Nicole Johnston said there was no way the remaining council staff could do the work of all those staff who had been terminated or voluntarily left, but not been replaced.

“This is a failure of leadership by the Lord Mayor and his executive team,’’ she said.

Mr Cassidy said in the past few years there had been contract and temporary staff cuts, casual staff cuts and now there were concerns about permanent staff “facing the chopping block’’ next year.

“You would not move to reduce redundancy entitlements if you did not plan on cutting staff and recent figures reveal that truth in black and white,’’ he said.