Council merger promise broken as bureaucracy bill up by $40m

Northern Beaches Council is paying millions more on staffing costs than all three former councils combined prior to their amalgamation, despite then-premier Mike Baird’s promises they would pay less.

Northern Beaches Council is paying millions more on staffing costs than all three former councils combined prior to their amalgamation, despite government promises to ratepayers that they would pay less.

The revelations come two weeks after councillors voted to slug residents with a nearly 40 per cent increase over three years, with angry ratepayers calling on the NSW government to step in to prevent it.

When the former Liberal government created 19 new councils in 2016, the Northern Beaches Council was created from an amalgamation of the former Manly, Warringah and Pittwater councils. At the time, Premier Mike Baird promised ratepayers the amalgamations would see savings of $2b over 20 years by slashing council bureaucracy.

Then-NSW Premier Mike Baird and Minister for Local Government Paul Toole released IPART's Review of Local Council Fit For The Future proposals and amalgamated the three former councils along with many others. Picture: Stephen Cooper

That outcome has not come to pass, with Northern Beaches Council spending almost $40m more on employee costs in the 2023/24 financial year than the costs of all three former councils combined in 2014/15.

Currently, the council has a total wages cost of $159m for 1800 staff, more than 960 of whom are full-time employees.

Northern Beaches residents protest proposed increases in rates. Picture: Thomas Lisson

In comparison, the combined total labour cost for Manly, Warringah and Pittwater councils in 2014/15 was nearly $120m. Adjusted for inflation, today it would be the equivalent of $153.6m.

Additionally, council full-time staff have barely reduced since the council amalgamated.

The Northern Beaches Council currently has 1287 full-time equivalent employees, 28 fewer than the 1315 FTE positions the three councils had upon amalgamation.

Australian Taxpayers’ Alliance executive director Brian Marlow said what was needed to reign in swollen council bureaucracies was an Australian version of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

The mergers were based on IPART's review of Local Council Fit For The Future proposals. Pic Stephen Cooper

Stuart Gold, organiser of a ratepayer protest outside Northern Beaches Council Chambers. Picture: Supplied.

“The promise was that amalgamations would make councils more efficient and that the ratepayer would pay less, but that’s not what’s happened,” he said.

“What ended up happening is they created these super bureaucracies.”

Disgruntled northern beaches ratepayers have created multiple petitions calling on the Minns government to order an independent inquiry, including a productivity audit into council spending.

They also want any rate increase put on hold until the inquiry’s findings are published and publicly discussed.

Rate payers have demanded the proposed rate hikes be shelved.

The council’s application for a “special rate variation” was submitted to the independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal of NSW (IPART), which will either accept or reject it.

Premier Chris Minns indicated on Monday he would leave any audit of council expenditure up to IPART.

“They assess everything, economic impact, the ability to pay, the reasonableness of the rate rise,” he said.

“This is a whopping, whopping increase in rates. A lot of people in the northern beaches won’t be able to pay it and it seems far too much for your average family.”

Rate payers at Northern Beaches Council protest over proposed rate increases. Picture: Supplied.

Pittwater independent MP Jacqui Scruby supports the petitions for a productivity audit and has called on the IPART process should be strengthened to require councils to do more to cost cuts before special rate variations are approved.

“We need to restore confidence, and that can be achieved by an independent performance audit or bringing in a financial manager,“ she said.

“There is no doubt that increasing costs are being faced by council, but that doesn’t mean people don’t want the fat cut first. They want to see and witness austerity measures before having to consider rate rises.”

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Originally published as Council merger promise broken as bureaucracy bill up by $40m