City of Melbourne slammed as wages bill to hit nearly $200m
The City of Melbourne has been blasted for having “warped priorities” amid revelations ratepayers will have to fork out an extra $18m to cover its surging wages bill.
Victoria
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The City of Melbourne’s wages bill will climb by 10 per cent over the next year to reach nearly $200m amid accusations the council has “warped priorities”.
Ratepayers will fork out an extra $18m with staff numbers rising by almost 100 to 1480 in 2022-23.
The annual cost of employees is due to rise from $194.8m to $212.4m by 2025-26 when an estimated 1495 people will have city council jobs.
Institute of Public Affairs communications director Evan Mulholland said ratepayers “should be rightly furious” about the spending splurge.
“It shows the warped priorities of Town Hall that while CBD businesses have been smashed due to COVID-19 lockdowns, they have been busy hiring more bureaucrats,” he said.
However, council management claims pandemic restrictions were a key factor in the hiring blitz.
“The increase in staff and staffing costs is due to lower employee numbers during the pandemic, a new enterprise agreement, and the establishment of two new entities – Homes Melbourne and Invest Melbourne,” said City of Melbourne chief executive Justin Hanney. “We’re using council resources in a more cost-effective manner, relying less on agency staff, and reducing spending on consultants.”
Council is also citing as factors mandatory superannuation increases, and employees returning from secondments to the state government and from extended leave during the pandemic.
Mr Hanney said Town Hall was investing in the people and resources needed to run the city efficiently.
“Our hardworking team will continue to proudly deliver the City of Melbourne’s record investments across infrastructure, cleaning and safety, events and festivals, and the vital services our communities rely on,” he said.
Of the council’s 1480 employees in 2022-23, 435 will work in community and city services, 303 in city economy and activation, 230 in finance and corporate, 203 in strategy planning and climate change, 161 in property, infrastructure and design, and 147 in executive services.
Small Business Australia executive director Bill Lang said that the council needed to be more accountable about how it spent ratepayer funds and measured staff output.
“Victorians who work in private sector continue to be frustrated by the lack of specific performance measures of office-based public servants to ensure that, as taxpayers, ratepayers and citizens, we are getting value for money,” he said.
The council has budgeted to spend $13.3m on consultants in 2022-23, down from $14.7m last year.
The cost of bad and doubtful debts over the next year is estimated to be $13.4m, up $5.1m compared to 2021-22.
The council said this reflected the expected increase in parking fine revenue as more traffic returned to the city.
Originally published as City of Melbourne slammed as wages bill to hit nearly $200m
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