LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

CASH COWS?

I WAS interested to see it reported (TC, 02/10) that the State Government has moved to make local government’s use of monies garnered as infrastructure charges on developments, more transparent.

This is significant because rates and charges are set by the council and deposited into the consolidated revenue account, while monies gathered from levies (which can be set by State Government) are deposited to separate, object-specific accounts.

This means that while levies must be used for the purpose intended, rates and charges can be shuffled around between any requirement in the overall annual budget regardless of stated reason for their collection.

Now link that revelation with the interplay between annual budget and performance.

Any project - be it new capital works or maintenance - underspending or behind schedule, will effectively free-up funds for transfer to other cost centres.

This might also mean that if fees and charges were inflated from the outset (i.e. with the adoption of the annual budget), the ensuing (planned?) surplus becomes a disguised bonus on the revenue side.

The recent revelation that the Toowoomba Region Council is chasing many millions of dollars of unpaid infrastructure charges from developer (s) suggests the council’s control of infrastructure charges is lacking.

It would be interesting to know if there are any recurrent names popping up in the unpaid infrastructure charges sector, because while plans of survey for new subdivisions are normally signed off by council on completion of the works and before registration, presumably the plans wouldn’t be signed off if monies were still owing.

On the other hand redevelopment of a site without alteration of the boundaries only needs compliance of the works. Does this suggest redevelopment projects are the culprits for non-payment of infrastructure charges, not the new subdivisions?

All this potential juggling of monies inside the consolidated revenue account includes fees and charges for water supplies.

As I have written on several occasion over the last five years, ratepayers need to be assured that the council’s water supplies tariffs are not structured as a “cash cow” inside the consolidated revenue account to cover potential variations in the overall budget, and with some of the rampant cost increases brought in since amalgamation, that – rightly or wrongly – could be an easy conclusion to reach.

TONY LAKE, Meringandan West

WEIRD WORLD

IT’S getting very difficult to follow the generation now growing up. At least a lot of them. For example, Extinction Rebellion and its myriad of followers who believe that the end of humanity is inevitable. Pick up a phone book to look up a phone number (we did it when e were growing up, everyone did, everyone had their phone number listed), but now you look in vain. More and more are choosing not to list their contact. Phone directories will soon be extinct, valueless.

They, when we can contact them, they ask you to “PM, TXT, MSG me”. Some of us oldies don’t PM, or text or whatever.

The home phone rings. You answer with a hello. The response is so often “who are you?” You reply, “No, who are you? You rang me, what did you call for?” Click. The number then auto rings back. They so often hang up then turn their phone off. Weird and weirder.

Most readers know that I charity fundraise. More and more, people say, “Here’s so many dollars. I don’t want a receipt”. By law I need to give you one as I have to account for your money. Just put Joe or Sue as the case may be, but don’t put the address, just Toowoomba. And no phone number.

Another one: Will you write a letter to the paper for me but don’t use my name. Whose name do I use? Use yours, every one knows you. Good one.

It would be vary easy to give another dozen examples, but this is sufficient to show the general trend.

RAY HARCH, Toowoomba