Calls for Kingborough Council staffing cuts instead of forcing 5.5 per cent rate rise on residents

UPDATED: Kingborough ratepayers may be slugged with a hefty rates hike after a recent High Court decision left the council with a half-a-million dollar hole in its budget.

Kingborough Deputy Mayor Jo Westwood and Mayor Dean Winter face new challenges, with a possible 5.5 per cent rate rise on the cards. Picture: MATHEW FARRELL

KINGBOROUGH ratepayers may be slugged with a 5.5 per cent rates increase next financial year after a recent High Court decision left the council with a half-a-million dollar hole in its budget.

The council had flagged a 3.5 per cent increase next year.

But now Kingborough Council agenda papers reveal the council may have to consider raising rates by an extra 2 per cent to 5.5 per cent.

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Kingborough Ratespayer Association president Mervin Reed called on the council to cut spending rather than impose any extra rates increase.

“We want to see $500,000 worth of cuts to staffing and to functions not just to the capital works programs,” he said

“If they do this, there will be no need to increase the rates.”

Mr Reed said the council had indicated it had an operating deficit of $2.5 million this financial year.

“That makes the operating deficit $3 million and that is not sustainable without cuts to staffing,” he said.

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Acting Kingborough Mayor Jo Westwood said there were no plans to cut council’s workforce.

“Kingborough has the lowest staff per capita of the metro councils in Southern Tasmania and any reduction in staffing would require a significant reduction to services.”

But Cr Westwood did concede with a limited capacity to absorb such a large hit to the budget bottom line, future rate rises were a definite possibility.

“A one-off additional increase to rates of 2 per cent in 2019-20 is one option,” she said.

“Other options may include the deferral of much-needed projects and taking longer to reach an on-going underlying surplus position.

“Council provides a wide range of essential services to over 37,000 Tasmanians and it is disappointing that these services are at risk because of lack of clarity within the legislation.”

Kingborough Councillor Richard Atkinson said the aged care decision meant if the council wished to provide the same level of service, it would need to consider a rate rise or reduce services.

“The ambiguity is in the state legislation and that’s a responsibilty of the State Government,” he said.

“We’re in the middle of our budget process and we have to make decisions on what money we need to bring in.”

Last month, the High Court revealed it had declined to hear an appeal by four Tasmanian councils relating to a Supreme Court decision that ruled not-for-profit retirement villages did not need to pay rates.

The court ruled that the Southern Cross Care Tasmania villages were eligible under the provision of the Local Government Act that state land owned and occupied exclusively for charitable purposes was exempt from general rates.

Kingborough Mayor Dean Winter had previously said it was “impossible to quantify the impact this will have on councils” and pushed for the State Government to immediately amend the Local Government Act to clarify that “Southern Cross Care and similar entities should contribute to the municipalities they are based in, like everyone else”.

Local Government Minister Peter Gutwein said the Government was consulting with key stakeholders such as TasCOSS and the Local Government Association regarding the recent High Court decision on charitable rates remissions before making any possible amendments.