LOSER PAYS

Misconceptions, restraint and commonsense

The West Australian for 12 July this year carried an advertisement headlined ‘Misconceptions on Council rates puts public in dark’.  The author was Cr Lynne Craigie, current president of WALGA.  

It seems Cr Craigie was on a mission to convince WA ratepayers that swingeing rate increases—of which we in York have had more than our fair share in recent years—are invariably justified by rising expenditures over which local governments apparently have little or no control.

The first ‘misconception’ she wrote about is that when property values fall, as they have in WA since the mining boom ended, rates should fall with them or at any rate shouldn’t rise.  She pointed out that the amount you pay in rates compared with what your neighbours have to pay is based on the rental value of your property relative to the value of theirs—the greater that rental value, the more you are required to cough up as your share of the expenditures set out in your council’s annual budget.  

The resale value of your property at any given time, whether it goes up or down or remains stable, plays no part in the calculation.

Lynne Craigie, President of WALGA (Photo: ABC)

The other ‘misconception’ is that the level of any rate increase should be pegged to the CPI. 

Actually, that isn’t a misconception. It’s an opinion, and one I happily admit to sharing—up to a point, anyway.

For Cr Craigie, rate increases simply reflect the ever-increasing cost of the services—‘local roads, waste services, parks and sports fields, libraries, pools and recreation facilities’—that local government provides. 

“Councils’ cost structures”, she wrote,

…are impacted by more components than the cost of living.  Wage and salary increases, reductions in funding, cost shifts from other governments and artificial restrictions on fees and charges all add to the pressure on rates.

I think it's more complicated than that.  Local government cost structures are also impacted by a variety of less tangible factors that Cr Craigie and the WALGA set generally would probably prefer us simple-minded forelock-tuggers not to think too deeply about. 

 

Those factors include the intelligence and wisdom of council members and the knowledge, skill, talent, experience and honesty of council employees, especially the CEO.

They include council’s willingness to make decisions that benefit the whole community, not just councillors themselves, their friends, relations, intimate partners past and present, sporting associates, drinking buddies and political supporters.

Above all, they include council’s readiness to exercise commonsense and restraint when deciding how municipal funds should be spent. 

Ah, commonsense and restraint…not much in evidence in York, especially when you consider the enormous financial burden, somewhere between $300K and $500K, that the hapless ratepayers of York are obliged to shoulder every year to repair and maintain our big white elephant, the York Recreation and Convention Centre aka the Splurj Mahal.

Turf wars

Which brings me to what reminded me of Cr Craigie’s instructive musings, namely item SY160-12 on pages 31-35 of the agenda for tomorrow night’s council meeting.

This item relates to the prospective award to West Coast Synthetic Services, the preferred tenderer, of a contract to replace the existing artificial turf on eight tennis courts at the YRCC with ‘Omni-Court Cool-Plus Synthetic Turf’ at a cost of—wait for it—$171,300 ‘excluding GST’.

Including GST, we’d be looking at an expenditure of $188,430—that’s around $54 for every man, woman and child in York, or just over $76 for each elector, assuming the population figures given on the My Council website are accurate.

We’re told that the current surface ‘is at the end of its life’. Alarmingly, it appears to have lasted for only about four years, perhaps less. 

Does this mean the turf will have to be replaced every few years at such a stupendous cost to the ratepayers of York, most of whom aren’t members of the Tennis Club and probably only take a passing interest in the game when Wimbledon is showing on the telly? 

The officer’s recommendation is for Council to delegate authority to the CEO to award the contract to West Coast Synthetic Services.  However, the officer advises Council that it has two further options: either to reject that recommendation and award the contract to another tenderer, or to put the contract out to tender again.

Well, folks, I can think of a much more sensible option. 

Here it is: postpone the resurfacing of the tennis courts (and any other major works project currently envisaged for the YRCC) until the fate of the centre has been decided comprehensively once and for all.

What would be the point of spending nearly $200,000 on new tennis court surfaces now if the decision is made next year—as it might well be—to save money and avoid further rate increases by mothballing the centre indefinitely, and maintaining it only to the minimal standard required by law and public safety, until we can find some way to make it pay for itself?

Here’s another option: go ahead with the contract, resurface the courts, but at the expense of members of the tennis club, not of the ratepayers in general.

I have a vague recollection of former CEO Ray Hooper telling us that the centre wouldn’t act as a drain on the public purse but instead would operate primarily on the principle of ‘user pays’. 

That hasn’t happened yet.

So far, it’s been overwhelmingly a matter of ‘loser pays’, the losers being the ratepayers of York.

Let’s see if Council acts true to form tomorrow, or opts instead for restraint and commonsense.

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NEWSFLASH 201216

Lisa Buckingham, proprietor of Hairitage Hair, has won the Best Decorated Business Competition for Christmas 2016.

At yesterday’s council meeting, Shire President David Wallace presented Lisa with two trophies, a large perpetual trophy and a smaller personal one, and a huge laminated cheque for $500.

Swan Lodge, as runner-up, received a cheque for $250.

Congratulations to both winners, and thanks to all contestants for adding a welcome touch of Christmas sparkle to the town.  Thanks also to the Shire of York for sponsoring the event.

The photo below shows Lisa with her trophies and cheque standing next to Roma Paton.  As a member of the Christmas Decorations Working Party chaired by Cr Pam Heaton, Roma organised the competition, donated the smaller trophy and paid for the engraving on both trophies.  The splendid perpetual trophy was crafted and donated by Ron Macey.