{"id":178347,"date":"2017-05-17T13:57:31","date_gmt":"2017-05-17T03:57:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=178347"},"modified":"2020-09-02T17:56:08","modified_gmt":"2020-09-02T07:56:08","slug":"council-to-cut-community-support","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2017\/05\/17\/council-to-cut-community-support\/","title":{"rendered":"Council To Cut Community Support"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Community groups like the Murgon Men’s Shed – who are building a railhead in Macalister Street to boost Rail Trail tourism spending in the town – will have to find more money from July 1 to pay Council charges on their projects under the SBRC’s new Community Grants Policy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Property portfolio chair Cr Terry Fleischfresser<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

May 17, 2017<\/strong><\/p>\n

South Burnett community groups who want rebates on Council fees will be forced to stump up extra cash from July 1.<\/p>\n

Full rebates on Council fees for building new infrastructure are slated to be axed from July 1, when a new 50 per cent subsidy rate will be put in place.<\/p>\n

The effect of the change was discussed at the South Burnett Regional Council’s monthly meeting on Wednesday, when the Murgon Men’s Shed applied for a 100 per cent waiver of a $1500 Building Application Fee they’d paid to construct an industrial shed.<\/p>\n

Councillors agreed to waive the charge, less a $168 document lodgement fee, in accordance with normal policy.<\/p>\n

The decision means the group will receive a $1332 refund.<\/p>\n

However, Cr Terry Fleischfresser warned that from July 1 when the Council’s new Community Grants Policy comes into effect, community groups can expect less generous treatment.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Corporate Services General Manager Peter O’May told the meeting Council had a long-standing policy of rebating application fees – less a document lodgement fee – to not-for-profit community groups who wanted to build infrastructure.<\/p>\n

This was because Council had long believed the creation of new facilities benefitted the community overall.<\/p>\n

But because Council officers did not have the power to waive fees themselves, any request to do so had to come before a full Council meeting for a decision.<\/p>\n

Mr O’May noted that when the 2017-18 Budget is introduced next month, the Council’s Schedule Of Fees And Charges could have two classes: standard charges, and discounted charges that applied to non-profit community groups.<\/p>\n

This change would allow Council officers to apply the relevant charge without any need to bring the matter to a Council meeting.<\/p>\n

Cr Fleischfresser said the new system would allow community groups to obtain a 50 per cent discount, but no higher.<\/p>\n

The effect of this would be to reduce the rebate on a $1500 application fee – less document lodgement charges – from $1332 to $666.<\/p>\n

“This Council has a responsibility to stop being a benevolent society,” Cr Fleischfresser said.
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“I don’t think any ratepayers would criticise us for wanting to ensure we got the best value for their money.”<\/p>\n

Cr Spud Jones said he understood why the current policy existed, but agreed Council needed to reign in expenses.<\/p>\n

“Most community groups who want to build or expand their infrastructure get the funds to do it through grants,” Cr Jones said.<\/p>\n

“In future, they’ll need to add these extra costs to their grant applications.”<\/p>\n

Cr Kathy Duff said she was also in general agreement with the new approach, but recognised sometimes there were special circumstances where particular groups needed extra help.<\/p>\n

She suggested that in those cases, Councillors might be able to use their Discretionary Funds to assist.<\/p>\n

Councillors agreed.<\/p>\n

Two weeks ago, South Burnett Mayor Keith Campbell told southburnett.com.au<\/strong> the South Burnett Regional Council currently gave away an average $1.3 million each year to community groups.<\/p>\n

Approximately $300,000 of this was given by way of cash and in-kind grants, and a further $1 million through rate subsidies, remissions and other “below the line” rebates.<\/p>\n

This support for community organisations amounted to around 2.1 per cent of the Council’s annual budget.<\/p>\n