The attacks on the poor, sick and elderly continue -an Australian council wants to hike local taxes by 40 per cent to pay “directors” exorbitant salaries.
From here:
Mayor defends salaries after council votes to raise rates 40 per cent
“Independent councillor Vincent De Luca, who voted against the proposal, said the council spends $25 million on 111 managers, directors and executives.”
Council chief executive Scott Phillips earns an eye-watering $544,875 a year, which is $42,075 short of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's $586,950 pay packet.
Mr Phillips was hired in 2023 on a five-year contract after working as the CEO of Local Government NSW.
The Northern Beaches Council annual report for 2023 to 2024 revealed its four senior staff members, excluding Mr Phillips, earned a combined $2,846,877.”
That’s an average of $712,000 each, even more than the CEO’s $587,000 !!!
I wonder if that salary bill includes inflation linked pensions and extensive health care benefits - plus an “early exit” clause?
“Northern Beaches Council employs 1800 staff at a total cost of $159 million, accounting for 40 per cent of its annual budget.”
Nice money if you can get it! Just how big is the district?
“The Northern Beaches Council represents about 267,000 residents in its roughly 50 suburbs from Palm Beach to Manly. “
The council has a typical website Council Home Page | Northern Beaches Council
So, what added value do the CEO and those four directors bring to the party that is above and beyond what other CEO’s and directors in Australia and around the world do for far less?
From here, in the USA
https://www.ziprecruiter.co.uk/
“As of Jan 19, 2025, the average annual pay for a Director Finance in Florida is $96,665 a year. Just in case you need a simple salary calculator, which works out to be approximately $46.47 an hour.”
Cal it an average of US$100,000 = A$160,000 which would be more than 75% less than what the council is paying those 4 other directors. The recruitment consultants hired to find these people are making out like bandits with a 25% of salary, hiring fee!
A smart council would be weighing up the costs of millions spent on salaries for bureaucrats against the direct costs of fixing real problems, but check out the whining:
“'The cost of everything is increasing, whether it's your power bill, whether it's your water bill, whether it's insurance, everything is increasing,' Cr Heins said.
'I think there is a point of which councils have tried to absorb as many increases as possible, but we can't keep being the credit card.
'We need to keep helping everybody'. “
How is making the poor, sick and elderly, poorer, “helping everybody”?
The people that need the most help are the poor, sick and elderly and the council is not doing that. The reason the council has been blowing out its credit card is because it is overspending o salaries - which is contributing directly to inflation across the board. Tax and spend == inflation, low growth and more inflation down the road.
“On Tuesday night, the Northern Beaches Council voted 8-7 to increase rates by 36.6 per cent over three years.”
There is hope that the 40% increase will be denied - which probably means that 30% will be “acceptable” and not zero or a negative number?
“If the NSW Independent Regulator approves the increase, residents would see their rates rise by $673 per annum.”
“The proposed rate rise will be taken to the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal which will judge whether a 39.6 per cent increase over three years is fair.
If approved, it will raise around $57million extra every year.”
The council needs to switch from overpaying its bureaucrats and paying 20 times their number to hire people who will actually work for a living, taking care of the poor, sick and elderly.
At least in the UK, councils have to be bankrupt or cos to bankrupt to attempt to increase local taxes by more than 5%!
You get what you vote for - or don’t vote for in low turnout elections!
Looks like a screaming candidate for AI !!!
Are there any local councils that actually REDUCE taxes by being smarter, careful with spending and more efficient with residents’ money?
“'The cost of everything is increasing, whether it's your power bill, whether it's your water bill, whether it's insurance, everything is increasing,' Cr Heins said.
'I think there is a point of which councils have tried to absorb as many increases as possible, but we can't keep being the credit card.
'We need to keep helping everybody'.
Onwards!!
People seem to put up with this thievery across the Anglosphere, whether the UK, Canada, OZ or NZ. Sometime ... God only knows when ... they may come to realise that they have nothing left to lose?
Wrong, stay out of everybody's way.