Work, Destroying Work, Already Done, Making Work To Do Again. Lets Fix It ONCE and For All.

22nd June 2007 From Cr Ron Owen

Proposed Motion.
Fix BIG problems one at a time. To alter Budget General Policy, on Capital Works Roads, Due to complaints in all divisions on roads and the safety of our residents, and current policies are reducing capital road works.

That staff adjust budget to double capital works Roads to a figure representing a quarter of total budget, funded by ….. millions in Plant Hire Recoveries, and ……millions in Internal Recoveries and reducing Community Rec and Culture and Business enterprises by 50%. Elimination of Tourism spending, emphasis on care for residents instead of visitors.
We spend $500,000 on a laying Bitumen machine and take on contract two operators to teach our staff how to operate it. Begin laying 4.5 metre bitumen seal on well established hard gravel roads which need very little preparation work. Maintenance staff prepare roads for sealing. When all of 500 kilometres is sealed, start at the beginning and widen the most needed roads. Meanwhile Councillors will seek to direct revenue to the road funds until we have a situation where we no longer need to continually waste resources, on up keeping gravel roads that wash away on the next rainy day. We do not take on any contract work, or sell our own gravel resources until our Road sealing project is completed.
I supplied information Notes as they had details from the up and coming budget they could not be discussed in open council so I proposed the following to the CEO.
Notes on Capital Works Roads Proposed Motion.
Note to the CEO, I have supplementary information available for debate which might be judged by Council as requiring debate in committee as it contains specific references to budget lines. Maybe to save that necessity, as it seemed to be a problem last week, that the information could be relayed just to Councillors, so they can, if they wish check it in the;
Draft Budget 2007/2008 Attachment 2 so they can understand where the money comes from and goes.
Page 9 Expenses , Budget line 2007/08
Internal Recoveries Ledger No 2130404 minus $4,159,210.00 should not go back into accumulated revenue but be used on Capital Works Roads.
Plant Hire Recoveries Ledger No 2140305 minus $4,651,180. should not go back into accumulated reserves but be used on Capital Works Roads.
That’s $8.7 million on income that can be redirected back to the Capital Roads which is on page 15 at $10,299, 390. So now we are up to 19 million, this still may not be enough so I suggest that we reduce the loss of Community Development and Culture Program Expenditure on page 16 down by 50 % it is a Figure of $6,074,320. Which might mean a little less staff at the Library, maybe we reduce the hours of operation and half the donations to the fish hatchery, same with finance expenses and Program Support. If we half the loss of $5,846,200. from Business Enterprise Program as with that sort of a loss it is not too enterprising. We can keep up materials and man hours until are roads are safe and reliable.

When the Roads situation is under control we can fully address our next worst problem in the same manner..
These notes were distributed to the councillors at the meeting and which only gave them a chance for a quick glance at them before the motion came up.
There was report by the CEO K Mason stating.
The proposal by Cr Owen demonstrates a lack of understanding of Council’s accounting system. The proposal would have Council bankrupt in a very short time.
The previous week the Mayor had side tracked this motion as it was a black snake being handed to him. If he and his gang voted it down it showed they did not want to address the road problem and they would never support a motion proposed by Cr Owen.
I was allowed to speck, WOW, to the motion. As the CEO had made comment that I did not understand the accounting system. I began by stating that I am not proposing a change to the Accounting System. The budget is only allocations same amount in, same amount out, with that income we choose which problems get fixed by how we allocate that same income in the budget. We either have a 55 million in reserves or not, we are sustainable or not. We either chose to spend 20 million on roads or not. We have all had many complaints about the roads, I have chosen, I know we need to spend money on Roads. Now the appropriate time, for Council to choose.
Then Councillor Petersen the Chairman of Administration and Finance spoke against the motion, he read from a document which sounded as it had been written by Ken Mason. My proposal was all wrong that the recoveries were listed in the budget under section something or other. Or the Local Government Finance Standards Act, it was for charging back and was to bring back the Councils so they could comply with the National Competition Policy, that allowed them to list these amounts that they charged themselves for doing their own jobs and if their own jobs were taken out of this figure there would only be $600,000. that could be gained and then there was all the fuel and man hours and replacement of plant. Where would the money for this come from if the original figures were not returned into Consolidated Revenue. Cr Petersen said, “there was only three ways that more money could be found, one Increase the Rates, two borrowing, and three take from other areas.” Cr Petersen said, “That if we reduced the Culture the Pavilion the Art Gallery, sporting venues, it would ruin the hearts of Cooloola and he was amazed that I wanted to reduce spending on Business enterprise as I was always encouraging council to make a profit. Taking money from this would only lose more money.” He said my idea was like somebody with a little hat with a propellor on it trying to fly.
No one else wanted to speak for the motion, so that should have ended the debate and I should have been allowed to then sum up. But the Mayor had to put his extra in and reiterated what had already been put in the CEO report regarding sending the Council Bankrupt.

I was then allowed to Sum up to the motion.
I began with, The Councillors should think why they are voting against this motion, Is it because they do not want to do anything about the roads, or is it just because its Councillor Owen who is proposing it. Maybe we are not sustainable , maybe we have not really got the 55 million in reserve. But Councillor Petersen admitted that Consolidated revenue was where the recoveries were paid back to. They are misusing the financial process when they budget for items then charge back a large percentage of the real figure back into the budget. This way the proper figure is never budgeted for, “Point of Order”, Councillor Petersen, Shouted, “I never said the money went back into Consolidated Revenue.”
I told him that His Point of Order was incorrect as under standing orders, a “Point of Order” could not be brought just to contradict another.
I was allowed after a bit of shouting to continue, I said, we criticize Main roads if there is an accident, as their gravel causes accidents. Yet we have accidents on Shire Roads, Anderleigh Road for instance because there is no Gravel at all on the roads and cars slide off the Roads.
Cr Petersen Shouted “Point of Order,” he cannot admit Council is Liable.
I carried on, we have had a Mayoral Minute bring which brings attention to the Shires Roads causing Accidents.
Councillor Petersen shouted out ‘Point of Order’ . We have not said that, that was not in the Mayoral minute, there could be a court case about this.
I said I am sorry, I sure it said, and read from the Mayoral Minute. ” that Council on receipt of the report consider applying to the State Government for funding to assist in upgrading that portion of the road.” Is that not an admission that more work needs doing on this road?
Petersen said something like, This is nothing to do with this motion about the Budget.
I said ‘No, the motion has everything to do with roads and the problems with them.
The Mayor said Well we wont have anymore of this I am upholding the Point of Order and putting the Motion. The vote was two For, Jocmensen and Owen and the rest Against (Sachs was away).
If I had been allowed to finish summing up I was going to mention, that the $5.6 m dollars that I wanted to cut in half and use on the Roads was half of the losses we normally spent on Business Enterprise. As the Shire attempts at making a profit cost the ratepayers that 5.6 m. Also that we have double standards we judge Main Roads if their roads are found deficient but never the Councils Roads. We can never do wrong. We have the Council Development Manual that we enforce on other private individual road makers but can never afford to apply the same standards to our own Council rate payer roads.
Ron

WE NEED A VEHICLE LIKE THIS TO HANDLE COOLOOLA’S ROADS