With Ballina Council proposing a Special Rate Variation (SRV), general manager Paul Hickey has responded to criticism of the rise by former councillor Jeff Johnson.
The Ballina Greens support it, as per this report.
Hickey said in s statement, ‘The following is provided to assist in responding to the email issued by Mr Jeff Johnson, as that email contains incorrect or missing information, with key points as follows’.
- ‘Council does not bank $10m of rates into term deposits each year. For example, the cash and investments held by Council decreased by $18m between 30 June 2023 and 30 June 2025, as Council expended funds, particularly grant funds following the 2022 flood disaster, on key infrastructure projects. Council’s Annual Financial Statements, which identifies the cash and investments held by Council, are available on our website under Integrated Planning and Reporting.
- ‘Council does undertake commercial activities to generate funds to support the delivery of Council services and infrastructure projects. Income from ordinary rates is not used for commercial activities.
- ‘Council is constantly pursuing efficiency gains, with recent examples provided in the Special Rate Variation information on our website, as per the following link:FAQs | Proposed Special Rate Variation (SRV) | Your Say Ballina
- ‘In respect to the special rate variation survey questions, unless Council generates additional recurrent income, existing service levels will need to be reduced, which means it is important to understand where residents believe services could be reduced.
- ‘The average residential rate will increase by approximately $146 more, being an increase of $346 compared to $182, if the SRV is implemented, by the end of 2029/30. The average business rate will increase by approximately $531 more, being an increase of $1,121 compared to $590, if the SRV is implemented, by the end of 2029/30.
- ‘Council’s General Fund operations, which excludes water, sewerage and domestic waste collection services, regularly reports an operating loss, with cumulative losses for the last five financial years, from 2020/21 to 2024/25, totalling $9.4m. If the profits from one -off land sales are excluded, the accumulated losses for the same period are $26.2m.’These figures highlight that Council is not generating sufficient funds to ensure the timely renewal of our major infrastructure items, such as roads, stormwater, parks, footpaths, community buildings etc. The depreciation expense for these infrastructure items, is approximately $6m higher than the funds Council has available each year to renew those assets. This means, that unless extra funding is allocated to timely asset renewal, over the longer term, that infrastructure will steadily deteriorate.
‘The special rate variation will not eliminate this funding shortfall, with Council still needing to make further savings to allocate additional funds to asset renewal.
‘Mr Johnson’s preference is to exclude depreciation from the figures quoted, when depreciation is a real expense that reflects the steady degrading, through wear and tear, of infrastructure assets.
- ‘Council is fortunate, in that occasionally we generate substantial one-off revenues from land sales, from our land holdings at the Southern Cross Industrial Estate, the Russellton Industrial Estate and our residential land at Wollongbar and in the future, at Lennox Head.The one-off cash injections help to fund major projects, such as the new Ballina SES Building, currently under construction at an estimated cost of $6m, along with the planned Alstonville Cultural Centre refurbishment, with tenders currently out for that project, which has a total estimated cost in excess of $14m.
‘Land sales provide one-off injections of funds, and with those land holdings having a limited supply, it is important that Council has a rate income base that is sustainable in the long term.
- ‘Council benchmarks our rate income with similar and adjoining councils, as we want to ensure that we maintain lower rates than most councils, while still providing the best level of service possible.Based on our forecasts, we expect our average rates to still be lower, on average, than similar councils, as categorised by the Office of Local Government, as well as similar councils in our region such as Byron, Lismore and Tweed Councils, even after the SRV has been fully implemented.
‘Mr Johnson also makes reference to the size of the Lismore City Council road network, however what is not mentioned is that the Federal Government’s Financial Assistance Grant (FAG), which is a major recurrent revenue source for Australian councils, that factors into the funding calculation, key metrics such as road network sizes. This results in councils, such as Lismore, receiving significantly higher FAG funding each year, than Ballina Shire Council, even though Ballina Shire now has a much higher resident population.
‘The public information available on the NSW Grants Commission website, confirms that the estimated FAG entitlements for 2025/26 are as follows, highlighting the difference in funding:
‘Ballina Shire Council – $6.4m, Lismore City Council – $8.5m
- ‘Council has held a commercial property portfolio for many years, with the major property being the Wigmore Arcade, which was gifted to Council more than 50 years ago. The commercial properties are revalued each year, for the preparation of Council’s financial statements, as required by the Australian Accounting Standards. The value of the investment properties in the 2024/25 Annual Statements is $29m.
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‘The net revenue from those properties, funds recurrent Council services such as maintenance on our roads, parks etc. Any maintenance on the commercial properties is funded from the rental income from the properties.
‘Council has expended very little in respect to maintenance on the commercial property portfolio in recent years, with the last major expenditure occurring during 2014 and 2015, when a refurbishment was undertaken on the Wigmore Arcade, for the benefit of the tenants and to support the economic development of the Ballina central business district.
Hickey said, ‘As at 30 June 2025, as per our Annual Financial Statements, Council held a total of $116m in cash and investments’. He provided a ‘dissection of how these funds can be applied’.
‘Once restricted funds are eliminated, this leaves unrestricted funds of $4.577m, which is working capital required for cash flow purposes, allowing suppliers, payroll etc to be paid’.
‘Council’s cash flow is approximately $160m per annum, which means an unrestricted working capital of $4.577m leaves little margin for significant variances in forecast expenditures and revenues.
‘If you require any further information from Council to assist in responding to such enquiries, please contact Linda Coulter, Manager Financial Services on 1300 864 444.
‘A copy of this response is also being provided to Mr Johnson’, said Hickey.
- ‘Council is fortunate, in that occasionally we generate substantial one-off revenues from land sales, from our land holdings at the Southern Cross Industrial Estate, the Russellton Industrial Estate and our residential land at Wollongbar and in the future, at Lennox Head.The one-off cash injections help to fund major projects, such as the new Ballina SES Building, currently under construction at an estimated cost of $6m, along with the planned Alstonville Cultural Centre refurbishment, with tenders currently out for that project, which has a total estimated cost in excess of $14m.
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