{"id":262558,"date":"2020-07-01T16:59:22","date_gmt":"2020-07-01T06:59:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=262558"},"modified":"2020-07-02T23:59:37","modified_gmt":"2020-07-02T13:59:37","slug":"councillors-slash-allowances","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2020\/07\/01\/councillors-slash-allowances\/","title":{"rendered":"Councillors Slash Allowances"},"content":{"rendered":"
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South Burnett Regional Council have tossed out amendments made in April to a Councillor expenses policy, and reduced expense allowances back to the lowest level seen since 2012<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

July 1, 2020<\/strong><\/p>\n

South Burnett councillors have taken an axe to new expense allowances, reducing them to their lowest level since 2012.<\/p>\n

Changes to the Councillor Remuneration Policy were passed at a special meeting held in Kingaroy on Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n

The changes reverse an updated version of the policy adopted at April’s general meeting.<\/p>\n

Under the new scheme, meal allowances will be cut by half; phone expenses will be capped at a maximum of $2000 per annum; and car allowances will be paid at rates set by the ATO and based on log books rather than a fixed weekly amount.<\/p>\n

An extra $1000 mayoral phone allowance has been discontinued, and a $2000 mayoral hospitality allowance has been cut in half.<\/p>\n

During the meeting all Councillors said they were disappointed with the negative reaction they had received since the amended policy was passed in April.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“There has been a lot of pushback from the community, and I get that,” Cr Kathy Duff said.<\/p>\n

“But over the 16 years I’ve worked here most Councillors have never claimed the full amount (of their expenses entitlements).”<\/p>\n

Cr Roz Frohloff agreed.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“I want to get it on the record that the breakfast, lunch and dinner allowances are not an everyday thing,” she said.<\/p>\n

“They only apply when we go away for a conference or a meeting somewhere (outside the region).”<\/p>\n

Cr Kirstie Schumacher said Cr Frohloff was correct, and all the allowances were set at a maximum level that most councillors never reached.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Just because it’s in the policy doesn’t mean councillors will claim it,” she said.<\/p>\n

“I was also very disappointed by the cheap comments made by some people in the community about councillors having their noses in the trough.<\/p>\n

“Like my colleagues in this Chamber, I have worked enormous hours late into the night and on weekends since being elected, and I do this because I love my community.<\/p>\n

“This job is more to me than money. I had a corporate career and I walked away from it because my heart is in this region.<\/p>\n

“So I challenge anyone who made those comments to come forward or give me a call, because this will not be tolerated at all in my term of council.”<\/p>\n

Cr Scott Henschen said he would also like to make a remark for the record.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Can I say as a new Councillor that in all the study I did leading up to the 2019 election, I found no one had abused the (expenses) facility by any measure and I was very pleased to see this,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I also agree with Cr Schumacher that we’re not here to put our snouts in the trough as proposed by some in the public – we’re here to do a job.”<\/p>\n

Mayor Brett Otto said he had also been saddened and disappointed by the community’s negative attitude.<\/strong><\/p>\n

He wanted to make it clear that expenses allowances existed to cover the cost of carrying out legitimate Council work, and those costs were often unavoidable.<\/p>\n

The changes adopted on Wednesday were:<\/strong><\/p>\n