Terrier titbits: the marquee folds and toilets running slow
Two Terrier titbits …and a question.
Titbit #1. For the first time in a decade or more, there will be no W’bool City Council corporate marquee at the May Races tomorrow. The WCC – finally – has seen the hypocrisy in popping open the champagne trackside while asking ratepayers for more money to fund the footpaths.
Titbit #2: Work on the $387,000 Taj Mahal of toilets being built at Swan Reserve – with that enormous, ski slope roof – appears to have come to a grinding halt, but no, the WCC says work is continuing, although the April deadline for opening was obviously not met.
The toilets are now scheduled to be ready in June.
The delay, the WCC says, is mainly due to a delay in the supply of a perforated screen. I am not sure what the screen is for, but, in the meantime, the old toilets are still open if you feel the urge.
And a question: I had a reader contact me today to say there are no normal buses running in Warrnambool tomorrow because all of the buses will be used for the races and the ‘race loops’.
I can’t confirm this at this hour of the night, but does anybody out there know if this is correct?
Surely not. But then again…..
Update: Yes, it was true – there was no public transport in Warrnambool for Thursday, 3 May, unless you were going to the races. I can’t imagine this happening anywhere else. Does it? Watch this space for more information on this decision. #yourtaxesatwork
Races, rates and rubbery figures
Budgets might be tight at the Warrnambool City Council, but there is still room for its annual May Race Carnival marquee. Judging by this shot, however, it was not an overly crowded affair.
Analysis – Carol Altmann
[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A5CECD;”] T [/dropcap]here are two things which always go up each May: the Warrnambool City Council rates, and the council’s corporate marquee at the May Racing Carnival.
They make for a painful double.
Painful because ratepayers are again facing a 5.5% increase in their annual rate bill, following on from a 5.5% rise last year, which is more than double the inflation rate and amounts to an 11% increase in two years. (Glenelg Shire Council recently announced a 1.95% rate rise).
This means, for example, if you were paying $1700 in rates in 2013-14, you can expect to pay almost $1900 this financial year.
Cities the size of Warrnambool are not cheap to run and ratepayers collectively contribute around a third of the total $64 million operational budget, with the remainder coming from grants and user fees and charges, so every cent – and how it is spent – counts.
The council reminded us of this at its monthly council meeting (May 4) when it outlined where it had tried to make savings – by trying a different road building method, for example – and how some of the big-ticket items, like the drainage tunnel for Simpson St, were both necessary and costly.
“Times are tough”, “budgets are tight”, “things will only get harder when rates are capped”, are common mantras around the council at the moment, which is why a corporate tent at the May Racing Carnival seems like a complete waste of money and an insult to ratepayers.
Last year, the hospitality tent had a budget of around $25,000, but actually spent $17,000 on the 90 guests who attended out of 168 that were invited.
While $17,000 is small in an operational budget of $64 million, it is the perception that bites: the council’s corporate tent at the races is still considered “non negotiable” when it comes to savings.
(We asked, but have not been told, the budget or guest list for this year. Judging by the photo above, however, it may have at least been scaled back.)
It might be more palatable if the hospitality brought some tangible rewards, but based on last year’s event, the party is largely made up of council staff, councillors and members of the various boards, bodies and legal firms that the council already works with on a regular basis. In other words, it is a junket.
The “$10,000 car” provided to the council’s chief executive officer as part of a salary package: in reality it is a luxury Hyundai Genesis valued at around $60,000.
[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A5CECD;”] P [/dropcap]erception also comes into play when we look at the vehicle provided to the Chief Executive Officer as part of a $288,000 annual salary package.
In the rubbery figure ways of corporate salary packages, this car is valued at $10,000, but don’t expect a car that is actually worth $10,000 – that is a reflection of the annual leasing cost.
In reality, the council provides its CEO with a sleek Hyundai Genesis that is worth around $60,000 and which sucks up 11.2 litres of fuel per 100km. Surely, in these cost-cutting times, something like a Toyota Prius would be a better choice and more environmentally friendly – if not as “corporate” – and send a message to ratepayers that everyone is doing their bit.
On the subject of rubbery figures, given the forensic nature of setting a budget and justifying where and why each dollar should be spent, it was extraordinary to learn earlier this week that some material provided to councillors has been cut and pasted from previous years.
Cr Peter Hulin made the discovery – which he shared at this month’s council meeting – after comparing what are called “service overviews” from previous budget papers to those provided in this year’s papers.
Rubbery figures provided to councillors as part of budget papers showed attendance figures at Warrnambool’s Aquazone were exactly the same for three years in a row. Image: sportstock.com
[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A5CECD;”] T [/dropcap]hese service overviews detail how an area has performed, and how much money it needs for the coming financial year, so, for example, Aquazone will detail how many people came through its doors, how many people enrolled in learn-to-swim classes etc.
Astonishingly, Cr Hulin found that the service overviews for at least 10 council areas – including Aquazone, Flagstaff Hill, the library, Lighthouse Theatre, art gallery and even environmental health services – had the same figures appearing year after year after year.
In the case of Aquazone, for example, precisely 213,377 people went through the gates and 19,596 people enrolled in learn to swim classes for three years straight.
Let’s be clear: these are figures presented to councillors as part of official budget documents and, irrespective of how much weight they carry in final deliberations, they are simply false. How does this happen?
CEO Bruce Anson could not provide an immediate answer to the meeting, although he did say that he believed the service overview sheets were not updated “for one year”.
“I will have to take the question on notice and get back to you,” he said.
The answer is certain to be interesting and underscores why, when it comes to budgets, it’s always worth reading the fine print.
[box]People can make written submissions on the proposed budget until Wed June 5. The budget will be formally adopted at the WCC meeting on June 22. You can download the draft budget here. [/box]
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Warrnambool City Council spent $17,000 on a corporate hospitality tent at the May Races earlier this year. Image source: Source: Vince Caligiuri/Getty Images AsiaPac
OPINION
[dropcap style=”color: #a5cecd;”] R [/dropcap]eaders will recall that earlier this year we revealed exclusively that the Warrnambool City Council spent $17,000 on hosting a corporate hospitality tent at the May Racing Carnival.
Today we can tell you who actually attended.
While the WCC has not revealed the names of those who accepted an invitation, they have released to Bluestone the positions of the 97 people who attended, which make for interesting reading.
I say interesting because, as we noted in our first story, the hospitality event is intended to do a number of things including: show support for the May Racing Carnival; promote it to senior politicians, bureaucrats and regional leaders; to discuss “strategic projects” and, lastly, develop “organisation to organisation” relationships.
Yet the guest list reveals that, of the 97 attendees, almost half (45) were connected to council either as employees, councillors (and their partners), or as members of the council’s various advisory committees.
Of the guests who accepted invitations to the marquee, half were connected to council either as staff, elected members of through advisory committees. Image: REUTERS/Victor Fraile
[dropcap style=”color: #a5cecd;”] W [/dropcap]annon MP Dan Tehan came along, as did all five State Members for Victoria, but of the nine senior government bureaucrats invited, only one – the regional manager for VicRoads – was able to make it.
Regional leaders made a better showing, with 10 representatives (including, I assume, some partners) of the Great South Coast Board attending, no doubt catching up with fellow board members Mayor Michael Neoh and Council chief executive Bruce Anson.
Opportunities to discuss “strategic projects” also looked very promising with the inclusion of 9 members of a Changchun delegation – Changchun being the Chinese sister-city to Warrnambool – but lost a little of its lustre when it was clarified that the delegation was one that would be travelling from Warrnambool to China, not the other way round.
So did we, as ratepayers, receive $17,036 worth of networking and promotional opportunities from this event, or should it be more correctly framed as an opportunity for the invitees to just relax and let their hair down? You can decide.
WARRNAMBOOL CITY COUNCIL MAY RACES HOSPITALITY MARQUEE 2014- ATTENDEES
1. WARRNAMBOOL CITY COUNCIL :
Warrnambool City Council Mayor & Councillors & Partners 16
Warrnambool City Council Chief Executive, Directors & Partners 5
2. STATE & FEDERAL GOVERNMENT POLITICIANS
Federal Member for Wannon 1
State Members for Western Victoria (there are five in total) 6
3. SENIOR STATE GOVERNMENT STAFF
VicRoads, Regional Manager 1
4.REGIONAL LEADERS
Great South Coast Board Members:
Corangamite Shire 2
Glenelg Shire 2
Moyne Shire 4
Three independent board members 2
Wannon Water:
Managing director 1
Chairman 2
Education:
Deakin University, Head of Warrnambool Campus 2
Regional Tourism Board Members:
Five independent board members 3
Regional Tourism Board 1
Barwon South-West RDA Committee:
Eleven board members 4
Police:
Inspector Local Area Commander Warrnambool, Moyne, Corangamite Police Service Area 2
Health:
CEO South-West Healthcare 2
CEO Lyndoch 2
CEO and President Western District Employment Access 1
Warrnambool Cheese and Butter:
Chief Executive Officer 1
5. GROUPS AND INDIVIDUALS WORKING CLOSELY WITH COUNCIL:
Maddocks Lawyers 1
Members of WCC Advisory Committees:
Audit Committee 6
City Landscape Committee 2
Livestock Exchange Advisory Committee 7
International Relations Advisory Committee 6
Flagstaff Hill Advisory Committee 2
City Health and Wellbeing Advisory Committee 1
Changchun delegation group (from Warrnambool to China):
10 members of delegation and partners: 9
Commerce Warrnambool:
President 1
6. OTHERS
Cr Kelson’s business associates 2
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