Toowoomba council CEO Brian Pidgeon on personal leave amid $12m deficit, questions raised over future
Council insiders are calling on Brian Pidgeon to make a call on his future within months, after the TRC chief executive took leave following an annual report featuring a $12m deficit.
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The future of Toowoomba’s most powerful public servant remains under a cloud, as pressure mounts on council chief executive Brian Pidgeon to make a call on his career within weeks.
Mr Pidgeon, who has headed the council for more than a decade, has gone on personal leave and is not expected to return until the end of the month.
Mayor Geoff McDonald was tight-lipped about whether Mr Pidgeon would be returning, saying that decision was “up to him”.
“He is on personal leave until the end of this month, so I’ve had no indication other than that, but that’s up to him,” Mr McDonald said on Friday.
Mr Pidgeon’s contract expires at the end of this financial year, and multiple sources both inside and outside council told News Corp the longstanding public servant needed to make it clear by the end of the year.
Three of the four councillors — Rebecca Vonhoff, Melissa Taylor and Bill Cahill — who voted against Mr Pidgeon’s contract being renewed in 2022 are still there, while the two newest councillors Gary Gardner and Trevor Manteufel campaigned on a desire for leadership changes.
“It’s up to him what direction he takes (but) the vibe is things have to change and if he goes, we want him to go graciously,” one council source said.
“His time is nigh, so he hasn’t got long (to make a decision).”
The matter of timing was separately validated by Mr McDonald, who said the process of replacing a senior leadership position typically took several months.
“That would be up for him to decide whether he wants to make application for (extending his stay), which is normally about six months prior to the end of that (contract),” he said.
Mr Pidgeon’s absence comes after he and the council delivered its latest annual report, which revealed an operational deficit of more than $12m (more than two per cent) amid ballooning consultancy and contracting costs.
The council’s operations — the regular business of council — has now posted deficits in three of the past five financial years dating back to 2019, with 2023-24 representing the largest.
The council’s expenditure exploded from $390m in 2022-23 to $526m last financial year (a $136m difference), fuelled by a 90 per cent ($121m) increase in materials and service.
While the cost of bulk materials like bitumen played a role in this aspect, it was the council’s use of contractors and consultants (from $34m to $132m) that was most responsible for the figure.
The council revealed to News Corp about $15m of that figure was spent on carrying out ordinary business — in other words, work that would otherwise have been done by employees.
While shortfalls in the labour market have been felt by local governments around the country, Mr Pidgeon in February told councillors he “can’t do much more” to fill the hundreds of vacancies in the organisation.
Mr McDonald defended the council’s financial position and outlook, arguing the figures in the annual report were subject to timing issues and that the council had started seeing increased job applications.
He also used the situation to argue for more uncontested external funding from the higher levels of government.
“The financial assistant grants have been an issue at the last three years, they dropped from $14 million to $6 million and we didn’t get prepaid in that time,” Mr McDonald said.
“But it’s more the cost of doing business, so the materials and services – that’s the biggest cost that’s gone up.
“That’s a challenge for us, and this is where untied funding, fair and timely, from the federal and state governments needs to increase.”
The content summaries were created with the assistance of AI technology, then edited and approved for publication by an editor.
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Originally published as Toowoomba council CEO Brian Pidgeon on personal leave amid $12m deficit, questions raised over future
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