Ratepayers won’t pay for council mistakes

No Strathbogie Shire or Mitchell Shire councillors have been affected by the recent Code of Conduct debacle.

Following recent changes to the Local Government Act, all Victorian councils were required to adopt new State Government requirements, in addition to council’s own Code of Conduct.

The Local Government Investigations and Compliance Inspectorate identified 107 councillors it believes should be disqualified on September 1.

While no Strathbogie or Mitchell councillors are affected by these disqualifications, the breach will affect 13 other councils.

Initial reports suggested these councils would be replaced by administrators for seven weeks, but the Victorian Government has agreed to amend the Local Government Act 1989 to ensure ratepayers do not suffer as a result of administrative errors made by the councils.

Councils were first notified of the new requirement at the end of 2015. Councils received links to a comprehensive guide to the changes available online, with a further two hard copies also mailed to each council. Councils were again notified in March this year of the requirement.

Councillors will still be required to review their code of conduct within four weeks of the October 22 council elections and agree to abide by it, however, the current group of councillors will not be disqualified as a result of their errors.

‘‘Our ultimate consideration here is ensuring residents don’t have to pay for the administrative mistakes made by their local councils,’’ acting Local Government Minister Richard Wynne said.

‘‘The Councils have admitted themselves to gross incompetence in not meeting this simple requirement, and they have asked the government for a solution to ensure ratepayers don’t suffer as a result of these mistakes.’’