GLENORCHY TIME BOMB

GLENORCHY ratepayers have been warned to brace themselves for a steep rise in rates as the bills run up by the previous dysfunctional council fall due.

Mayor Kristie Johnston has revealed she expected a “very significant” rate rise this year — something she conceded would be a bitter pill for ratepayers.

But she said the costs of legal bills from the Board of Inquiry and money squandered by the previous administration on consultants and redundancy payouts needed to be found somewhere.

“We’re talking millions of dollars,” Ms Johnston said. “Unfortunately the consequences will have to be borne by the community.”

GLENORCHY r at epayers have been warned to brace themselves for a steep rise in rates as the bills run up by the previous dysfunctional council fall due.

The council’s mayor and deputy say that not only are ratepayers set to bear the costs of the “arrogance and incompetence” of the previous council, but those responsible for the mess have so far gone unpunished.

As it formulates its 2018-19 budget, the council faces a multimillion-dollar blowout thanks to legal bills from the long-running Board of Inquiry into the previous council, cost overruns on the King George V redevelopment and money squandered by the previous administration on consultants and staff restructures and the associated redundancy payments.

The former council was sacked by the Local Government Minister last year after a Board of Inquiry found significant failures of governance amid a culture of dysfunction and conflict.

A new council was elected in January.

Mayor Kristie Johnston said the expected rate rise was a bitter pill for ratepayers.

“We’re not ... able to put a precise figure but it certainly is very significant,” she said.

“We are very much aware that our community is a community that is largely on fixed incomes and that impost on household budgets will be significant. That’s why the council itself is angry that we’re put in this position and the community are angry that we are being put in this position because they have absolutely no consequences for the people who have done the wrong thing.”

Ms Johnston said the cost of the sacked council would fall to ratepayers.

“We’re talking millions of dollars. There is very little cost savings that can be made when the council itself has already been stripped bare by their poor decision making.

“Unfortunately the consequences will have to be borne by the community. We’re doing everything we can to avoid that situation but there is very little room to move.”

And she said she was concerned the two-year time limit for action under the Local Government Act was running out.

A Government spokesman said consideration of the Board of Inquiry report was ongoing.

“The Local Government Division and other authorities have had access to the Board of Inquiry’s report since it was tabled in Parliament in November 2017,” the spokesman said.

“Any action arising from the Board of Inquiry is a matter for those authorities to consider and take.”

Glenorchy deputy mayor Matt Stevenson said the council would consult with the community on the budget.

“For a community that has the highest unemployment, significant socio-economic disadvantage, it’s a cost that they can hardly bear without significant pain.

“The council clearly will not be taking any decision lightly, but we’re left with no option other than to consider how we can cover the costs of the previous administration.”

The council’s budget is expected to be brought down next month.