Southern Downs Regional Council loses $40K+ in whopping debt write-off, but claims it won’t break budget

‘Ultimately the ratepayer is the one who pays in most instances’: Mayor Vic Pennisi reveals greater cost to the region of chasing contractors’ landfill fees for more than six years.

ON SITE: An SDRC report stated Bastemeyers workers made 85 trips to the Warwick and Stanthorpe dump sites during their projects within the region. Picture: Marian Faa / Warwick Daily News

Southern Downs Regional Council has lost more than $40,000 in writing off a debt owed for more than six years, just weeks before the delivery of the 2021-22 budget.

Demolition company Bastemeyers Australia was contracted by SDRC for work on the Rose City Shoppingworld expansion and early stages of the then-new Stanthorpe Aldi building in 2014.

A council report tabled at Wednesday’s ordinary meeting stated Bastemeyers workers made 85 trips to the Warwick and Stanthorpe dump sites between October 29, 2014 and December 10, 2014, racking up a total of $41,179.04 in landfill fees.

SDRC director of finance and assets Scott Norman said the council never received any payment from the contractor, despite issuing multiple overdue statements and referring the case to a debt collector.

He added Bastemeyers then went into voluntary liquidation owing over $2 million in August, 2015.

“The liquidators eventually found there were no assets to transfer to creditors. It’s been a long time coming, but it’s finally wrapped up,” Mr Norman said.

The Rose City Shoppingworld expansion in 2014 was one of the projects for which SDRC contracted demolition company Bastemeyers. Picture: Sophie Lester / Warwick Daily News

“It’s not going to break us, but nobody likes losing $40,000 … (and) it happens at other councils too. They get a big contract to knock something over, and never manage to pay the bill.”

Southern Downs councillors voted unanimously in favour of writing off the debt, which had previously been logged in a rolling credit section of the council’s budget.

Mayor Vic Pennisi acknowledged the resolution was a lengthy and difficult process, but not an unusual one in the business sector.

“I’ve been in business for a long time in my life at different times, and I’ve had to write off quite a lot of debt over a period of time,” Cr Pennisi said.

“(The money) will come out of the waste budget, but ultimately it doesn’t matter what department it comes from, it’s ratepayers’ money.

“When you run a $90 million business, it’s a fact of life that somewhere along the line we’re going to have to make a decision about what to do with (debts), and in this case we’ve written it off.”

SDRC is expected to deliver the draft 2021-22 budget later this month.