Boroondara Council’s $129 million online project slammed by ratepayers

Ratepayers say Boroondara Council’s $129 million proposal to “transform” the way it interacts with ratepayers is a waste of money. But the council is standing firm on its plans.

Outraged ratepayers have called on Boroondara Council to come clean on its latest multimillion-dollar project.

Boroondara ratepayers have called on the council to better explain the benefits of its latest multimillion-dollar project.

The Leader revealed last month the council planned to spend $129 million over 15 years developing its Customer First Program, a project designed to “deliver a more seamless, easy and empowering experience” when contacting the council.

The project is flagged in its proposed 2019/20 budget and is supposed to make it easier for people do things such as make payments or request services like hard rubbish collection.

The council says its business case identified $182 million of benefits, but Canterbury’s Margaret Johnson questioned if the project was necessary.

She said she’d never had a problem contacting the council in 40 years of living in the area, and while she felt the council was generally financially responsible, she didn’t agree with the cost of the project.

“I think this one is overspending,” she said.

“There’s other things that could be done (with the money).”

Camberwell’s Rachel Shin said the council needed to provide a cost breakdown, while Hawthorn East’s Pearl Tulloh said ratepayers wanted to know where their money was going.

Hawthorn East’s Kalpana Sharma said improving communication between the council and residents was “a good idea” but she was shocked by the cost.

Boroondara Council has flagged its Customer First Program in its 2019/20 proposed budget. Picture: Wayne Taylor

Everyone Progress Leader approached at Camberwell Junction last week said they had not heard about the project. Ian Hundley said the information on the council’s website was “pure spin” and the project should be put on hold until public meetings were held.

“In my view, the very least they should be doing, and immediately, is holding face-to-face public briefings where people can interrogate the organisation in an informed way to test the viability of what’s proposed.”

Mike Reece of Balwyn North said Boroondara Council should consult other councils about how they ran their online services in order to follow their example and make cost savings.

Only one woman the paper spoke to, Rachel from Camberwell who declined to provide her full name, said she wasn’t worried about the project’s cost.

“I don’t care how much it costs, as long as it’s done,” she said.

But Ratepayers Victoria spokesman Frank Sullivan said he believed the project was a case of overspending.

“Councils are out of control,” he said.

“There’s no accountability, they can do what they bloody like.”

The council’s Customer First Program comes on top of the $11.7 million it spent overhauling its website, which involved creating new eForms so customers could request services and merging together six older websites.

MORE: THE $129M COUNCIL PLAN FOR BETTER CUSTOMER SERVICE

MAN ‘HOUNDED’ BY COUNCIL DEBT COLLECTORS OVER $89 RATES BILL

COUNCIL TIGHT-LIPPED ON $11.7M CASH SPLASH

Boroondara Mayor Jane Addis said the project was about providing better service to the community and a tender process would be conducted to ensure they got value for money.

The total spend was comprised of $73 million in one-off implementation costs and $56 million in ongoing system licensing costs.

“This program will deliver better outcomes and more choices for our community. It will cut red tape and reduce bureaucracy,” Cr Addis said.

Public consultation on the budget has closed and a public meeting will be held on June 11 to hear submissions.

Jamila Fontana, spokeswoman for Local Government Minister Adem Somyurek, said councils were required under the Local Government Act to consult the community when setting their annual budget.

Ratepayers could hold councils to account by assessing their performance on the Know Your Council website, she said.