Cairns Regional Council bargaining agreement grants employees extra $4.6m in 2023/24 budget

As the Cairns ratepayer faces a hefty rate increase, the council’s employees have bathed in a generous pay rise that is forecasted to significantly grow year-on-year over the next decade.

A $4.6m increase to employee costs was included in the council’s 2023/24 budget. Picture: File photo

Cairns Regional Council will spend an additional $4.6m on its workforce in its 2023/24 budget despite adding less than 40 employees to its books in the past twelve months.

The budget – tabled on Monday, June 19 – contained a 5.99 per cent general rate rise which most councillors in their budget speeches put down to the unfortunate cost of doing business.

The cost of the rate rise, plus a lift in water charges, will net council, on average, an additional $185 per property next financial year.

With more than 72,000 private dwellings in the local government area, the council is expected to garner about $13.3m extra from its residential rate base alone.

All this contributed to a $42.5m budget surplus.

Cairns Regional Council handed down its 2023/24 budget on Monday, June 19. Picture: Isaac McCarthy

But the council’s employee costs have ballooned by $29m to $128.9m in six years, or about $22,300 per employee based on current staffing.

This increase was also more than $15m above forecasts.

The council’s current enterprise bargaining agreement ensures an annual increase of 2.45 per cent in employee costs.

But the actual increase in employment costs from the last budget has been close to four per cent.

The council’s CEO Mica Martin said employee costs, combined with a $16m increase in materials and services costs, contributed to the rate rise.

“All employee salaries increase annually and benchmarking indicates that council’s pay levels are within the average band. Budgets are developed to ensure council can safely continue to provide quality services, projects and programs to the Cairns community,” Ms Martin said.

Cairns Regional Council CEO Mica Martin said benchmarking indicated employee salaries at the council were within an average band. Picture: Brendan Radke

“The mayor and councillors, per the legislation, adopts the organisational structure that is appropriate to its responsibilities. The council also decides the annual budget, and the operational plan. All activity by the organisation occurs within the parameters set by council to adequately serve the community.”

The council’s executive management team have also recently benefited from a restructure that added more than $670,000 to remuneration across 32 positions, an average of more than $20,000 per position, according to emails sighted by the Cairns Post.

Ms Martin disputed that figure and did not provide an alternative figure.

When taking into account remuneration changes funded through vacancies elsewhere in the council’s organisation structure, the amount totalled $500,000.

The situation could have bulged further.

A former EBA allowed employee pay to rise annually by two per cent or in line with CPI, whichever was greater.

That EBA was replaced in 2021, about two years before the state’s CPI skyrocketed to almost eight per cent.

Employee costs have, however, been forecast to grow another $45m to $174.8m by 2032, or $5m each year.

“The forecast allows for EBA increases and employee growth over the long term. As the organisation’s asset base increases, so too do the costs associated with maintaining and servicing those assets,” Ms Martin said.

Originally published as Cairns Regional Council bargaining agreement grants employees extra $4.6m in 2023/24 budget