Byron Shire Council (BSC) charge 29 per cent more in rates than Ballina Shire, collecting $30.7 million, despite having 10,000 less residents than Ballina who collect $29.6 million. Why is Byron Shire’s planned increase of 35 per cent over three years greater than all the surrounding shires?
Revenue is only half the equation; how a council spends its baseline income dictates how much is left over for road renewals. Local financial comparisons highlight a heavy skew in Byron’s operational overheads:
Firstly, the wage bill disparity: despite having thousands fewer residents to service, BSC spent virtually the exact same amount on employee costs as Ballina: $38.4 million compared to Ballina’s $38.5 million.
Secondly per capita inefficiency: on a per-resident basis, BSC spends roughly 25 per cent more on staffing and administrative overheads
Thirdly the capital drain: because salaried and administrative costs absorb such a large chunk of Byron’s general fund, it leaves a significantly smaller percentage of ‘free cash’ to allocate directly toward pavement renewal and engineering asset lifespans before relying on grants.
While land valuations dictate that Byron can command higher rates per property, its infrastructure is subjected to severe wear and tear that a standard rate base cannot easily match. Infrastructure users vs payers: Byron’s infrastructure is funded by just 15,500 local ratepayers, but it is physically utilised by over two million tourists annually.
The compounding backlog, for example, when a road is patched temporarily it creates ‘patches on top of patches’. Because Byron misses its optimal engineering asset maintenance cycles due to high staff overheads, a road that required a $10k reseal quickly deteriorates into a $100k structural reconstruction backlog.
Solutions? Greater efficiency with targets to meet re: objectives and time frames. Staffing hours to match population efficiency of neighbouring shires.
Seek alternatives to ratepayers footing the bill re: tourism costs, recover funds for tourism through state and federal government, structured co-contributions and targeted advocacy for statuary changes like visitor accommodation levies.
Could we recycle more of our waste and not pay for double trucks to take it somewhere else? How much does paid parking and fines contribute? Not sell assets for $1?
Council should perform as well as neighbouring shires.
Council’s Public Consultation re: proposed 35 per cent rate rise over three years is happening now. Have your say on the special rate variation by emailing: [email protected].
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